


Wanna Knight Episode 1: Kang Daniel Is A Hero?!

by 0KKULTiC



Category: Produce 101 (TV), Wanna One (Band)
Genre: Anime inspired, Chatlogs, Corny, Fluff, M/M, Magical Boy AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-01
Updated: 2018-06-01
Packaged: 2019-05-17 01:44:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 26,752
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14822850
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/0KKULTiC/pseuds/0KKULTiC
Summary: Life for university student Kang Daniel is as average as ever. He eats, sleeps, plays games, b-boys- was eat mentioned? Everything changes when a shooting star falls from the sky, casting a strange prismatic light over the sky. Suddenly, people start acting really weird, and his cats can talk!What’s going on? What are those creepy creatures latching onto people? And most importantly:What’s that cute TA gonna think if he’s late to their study date?!





	Wanna Knight Episode 1: Kang Daniel Is A Hero?!

A young man floats on a sea of glowing specks. The waves dip and bob peacefully around him, enveloping him in comfortable, wet warmth. Petals fall, joining the mass beneath him, another soul to comfort him. Luminescent flowers bloom on either side of him, forging a beautiful path. From the surface of the water protrude fingers, but they are not malevolent.

 

They support him, for he is not floating on mere specs. He is not floating at all.

 

He is carried onward by hands, thousands, perhaps millions of them. Celestial creatures with glowing limbs carry him along a flowery cascade.

 

The man opens his eyes.

 

A light brighter than all the stars that shone above him starts to illuminate the night sky.

 

It swells and swells until it’s blinding, the man squeezes his eyes shut, dazzled by the intensity.

 

The mass dims slightly, and the man opens his eyes slowly again.

 

He sees the glowing form’s true shape.

 

Burned into the night sky: the number one.

 

The man feels curious, but whispers sound out from the celestial ones. They erupt in a swelling mass of sound. Everything else is drowned out, everything except for the whispers of his name.

 

They call to him, their tone benignant but demanding.

 

All the man hears are whispers of his name. Whispers, whispers, whispers.

  
He asks what it is they want, what it is they need from him, but their only reply is whispers, whispers, whispers of his name.

 

His name.

 

His name...

 

* * *

 

“Daniel…” A soft voice calls to no response. “Daniel?” They try again. Nothing, not a peep.

 

“Daniel!” The voice loudly shouts.

 

“Wh- wh- mmmn?” A young man finally stirs from his slumber, blinking as sunlight assaults his eyeballs. “Mn? What time is it?”

 

“Daniel, it’s already eight o’ clock. What are you doing still in bed?”

 

“Mn…” The boy yawns and stretches his long limbs. For a minute, there appears to be no urgency in his slow, sleepy movements. Then suddenly, like a light switch had just been flicked, he jolts up, eyes wide with panic. “Eight?! Mom, why didn’t you wake me up earlier?!”

 

“Yah! Daniel you’re twenty one years old! You should be able to wake up on your own by now!” The petite, bespectacled woman standing at his doorway scolds him. “Instead you make your poor old mother climb the stairs to come fetch you! I’ll break my back one of these days.”

 

“Mom, please,” The half asleep man groans. He throws his plush duvet off, keeping mindful of not disturbing the cats that had been curled up beside him. Swinging his long legs over the side of the bed, he shrugs, “I’m up, okay?”

 

“Good,” She nods, “Now hurry up before breakfast gets cold.” With that the petite woman departs with a sigh, probably lamenting her young manchild’s lack of care for the world.

 

“Wait- Breakfast? Why didn’t you say so?!” The promise of food is all the late riser needs to kick him into overdrive. He frantically runs to the shower, spending not a second more than necessary. An organized mess of multitasking ensues as he tries to get ready as fast as possible. His hand squeezes peach mint toothpaste onto a toothbrush while the other starts wrestling with a pair of pants. When he’s done brushing his teeth he slaps essence and moisturizer onto his face before trotting off in search of a shirt. His bookbag sits in the corner of his room, ready to be slung over a shoulder, and he yanks it from its spot in seconds. In an almost impressive seven minutes, he’s ready. He takes two steps at a time as he descends the stairs before bursting into the kitchen.

 

“Breakfast?” Is all he says when he reaches the bottom of the steps.

 

“You’re going to be late! You still have to catch your train into the city. Here-” She extends a lunch box to him, “For later. And for now,” She holds out a thick slice of bread slathered in jelly. A loving grin spread across the young man’s lips; while he usually likes to rain praise upon his sweet mother for caring for him, he didn’t have the time. Instead, he crosses the kitchen with a leap, quickly pecking his mom on the head; he grabs the lunchbox with one hand and the toast through his teeth.

 

“I luh yeh-” He manages to get out with the fat piece of bread hanging out from between his teeth.

 

“I luh yeh, too!” His mother laughs, watching with fondness as her baby boy (well, not such a baby anymore) leave for another day at school.

 

* * *

 

Kang Daniel: twenty one years old, university student majoring in Computer Science. Late. Very, very late.

 

Trees and cyclists and buildings blur as the student sprints across campus. He would have loved to tell people it wasn’t a run he did often, but he’d be lying.

 

 _At least I got breakfast this time_ , he thinks as he closes in on the engineering building. He awkwardly attempts to take another bite of his toast which had been hanging out from his lips for a shamefully long time. The result is him nearly choking, but he barely cares, just happy for the sweet, tangy jam to hit his tongue in combination with the fluffy bread.

 

“Hey Daniel!” A voice calls out from behind him, along with it the sound of pattering steps. Daniel turns his head when his friend catches up with him.

 

“Suh Jisuh!” He greets his longtime friend, his speech still impeded by the food in his mouth.

 

“Really, Daniel? Running late to class with toast?” Yoon Jisung: twenty seven, programming grad student, “mom friend” of Daniel’s friend group.

 

He scoffs, “How cliche.” He then proceeds to spoon white rice into his mouth from the small bowl he’d been running with.

 

“Whah?! Yah ea-ing rih. Yah the ihiot!” Daniel slurs and takes another hands free bite of toast. Yum.

 

A third set of running footsteps register in Daniel’s ear, and with it another voice; this one was deeper, but had an unmistakably sweet tone, “You _both_ look like idiots!” The person laughs. Judging by the (likely misguided) smugness and sass, it could only be one person. Striding with a cup of extra spicy ramyun was none other than the university’s King of Aegyo himself.

 

Park Jihoon: eighteen, computer science engineering major, tries too hard to act manly which just makes him cuter.

 

“Wh- Why- How can you say that when you’re slurping at ramyun?!” Jisung yells.

 

“ _Sluuuuuuuuuuurp_.” Jihoon sees no reason to dignify the older student’s inquiry with any other response.

 

“Ihn’t thah stuh ehtra spicy?” Daniel asks in what he decides to deem ‘toast dialect’.

 

“Yeah it is!” Jihoon grins confidently; sweat starts forming on his his forehead and his cheeks color pink, “Really puts hair on your chest though.”

 

Jisung snorts, “It shocks me that hair even grows on your head sometimes.”

 

“You take that back! I had to shave this morning- ah! Ah!!!” Jihoon’s protests got interrupted by a sudden onset of pain from the spicy dish he’d chosen for breakfast.

 

“See! Idiot,” Jisung says, shaking his head.

 

“You’re _all_ idiots,” A fourth voice interjects from not far behind the trio, strangely not accompanied by the sound of rushing feet. Their heads all turn simultaneously, and each one rolls their eyes at the sight of one of the university’s most eccentric snobs.

 

The person continues, giving a chuckle, “Desperately running to make it to class like the slackers you are. Typical,” He laughs maniacally.

 

Kim Jaehwan: twenty one, double major in vocal performance and programming, certifiably insane.

 

“You lot should really be ashamed of yourselves,” Jaehwan titters.

 

“Says the guy wearing _heelys_ ,” Jihoon retorts, his face twisting into an expression of utter bafflement.

 

“It’s called innovation, something you ought to understand as an engineering student,” Jaehwan punctuates the statement by flipping his hair.

 

“They weren’t innovative in middle school and they aren’t innovative now!” Jihoon hollers back.

 

“You’re just mad because I’m not running like a chump.”

 

“Jaehwan, watch the curb,” Jisung tries to cut in.

 

Jihoon ignores him, arguing back,“Maybe I like run- ngh!” The spiciness of his ramyun kicks again with renewed vigor.

 

“What is wrong with you?! Have you finally gone braindead?” Jaehwan taunts.

 

“Jaehwan, careful, you nearly wiped out,” Jisung says again, more insistently.

 

“My brain dies more with each passing second in your presence, Jaehwan,” Jihoon stubbornly croaks out.

 

“Psh! Your brain is enriched by my presence, I bet you’ve gained twenty IQ points just by breathing the same air as me.”

 

“I have not gained anything- urgh- if anything I’ve lost things. Brain cells, for one…”

 

“Jaehwan careful,” Jisung’s words fall on deaf ears.

 

“Your loss of lifespan is probably due to hanging out with _these_ bozos,” Jaehwan says, pointedly looking at the other two.

 

“Ih nah a bozo!” Daniel verbalizes his resentment for the statement as he slows down to a jog.

 

“Don’t bring my friends into this!” Jihoon pouts; it’s adorable, though nobody dares tell him when he’s so fired up. He sucks in the last few noodles of his ramen cup as he slows down to a walk. “Why do you insist on doing this all the time, anyways? Why are you so obsessed with us?! Do you have a crush on someone?”

 

Jaehwan cackles again,“In your dreams! It’s called amusement. Try looking it up-”

 

“Jaehwan watch out,” Jisung tries one more time.

 

“-or do you not understand what a dictionary i-”

 

_“BANG!”_

 

The thunderous noise of Jaehwan colliding with the front door of a building brings the conversation to an abrupt and definite halt. The other three freeze, merely looking down at the dazed man sprawled out on the ground.

 

“You, uh… You okay?” Jihoon is the first to ask, scratching the back of his head.

 

“I do not need your help,” Jaehwan mutters back.

 

“Nobody was offering, idiot,” Jihoon fires back, getting an elbow from Jisung.

 

“Di… Did anyone see?”

 

“That’s what you’re worried about?” Jisung asks and pinches the bridge of his nose.

 

Daniel glances through the glass of the building’s door to check. A tall, slender figure stands staring back at him; he’s surrounded by a crowd of girls, and though he’s gawking, he still manages to maintain a sort of regal air.

 

Hwang Minhyun: twenty-two, computer science engineering student, the university’s Prince (as proclaimed by girls on the university’s message boards).

 

Opting not to mess with his breakfast anymore, Daniel shoves the rest of his toast in his mouth and swallows before responding, “Uh, that Minhyun guy I guess. And some girls.”

 

“M-Minhyun?” Jaehwan asks. He doesn’t bother moving from his spot.

 

“Uh, yeah. Why-”

 

“ _Hhhhhhhhhhh_ -” A high pitched cry rings out from dejected man’s lips, and it reminds all present why he took up vocal performance as a second major.

 

“Are- are you okay?”

 

“I’m,” Jaehwan sniffles, “I’m fine.”

 

“Are you sure you don’t need help-”

 

“IsaidI’mfine!” Jaehwan snaps.

 

The other three look at him with bewildered expressions but respect his wishes. Jaehwan doesn’t budge as the trio enters the building. Knowing they were each minutes away from being chastised for tardiness, they split off toward their classrooms.

 

Daniel runs upstairs to a room on the second floor with a spring in his step. He always hated morning classes as a kid, but this semester was different. This semester, his nine-thirty had something that always motivated him to make it to class.

  
Well, _someone_.

 

* * *

 

“-and that is why you would never use an array to compile this type of data,” The professor’s voice drones on like a metronome; Daniel doesn’t really listen so much as he hears the man. He’d learned a long time ago that he was more of a kinesthetic learner: he needs to do something for it to sink in.

 

 _This is gonna make so much more sense when I do it in the library_ , he thinks to himself. Try as he might, his eyes eventually wander away from the slide projected in front of him to something much, much more interesting.

 

 _Hi, gorgeous_ , he says to the other in his mind. He watches as the teacher’s aid, a student a year above him, looks at the board, earnestly jotting down notes. _Don’t you know all this stuff already?_ He wonders. It doesn’t matter, the man’s studiousness just makes him all the more cute.

 

Ong Seongwoo: twenty-two, computer science student, gorgeous, beautiful, stunning, cute… Daniel could write a thesis on how hot the guy is with his slender frame, pretty birthmarks, and adorable round specs. Not only is Ong good looking, but he’s smart and funny. Upon stalking the other’s social media (in a completely appropriate, not creepy way of course), Daniel discovered that Seongwoo also shares his love for dancing and that he has zero bad angles.

 

 _It’s not fair_ , Daniel pouts internally. He still fondly remembers the first time he’d spoken to the man. Early in the semester, when Ong had held his very first open office hours, Daniel very coincidentally needed help on his work. He’d proceeded to spend the next thirty minutes flusteredly gawking at the man explaining built-in data structures to him. Seongwoo had probably thought his mouth was hanging open due to confusion.

 

Ever since, Daniel has attended Seongwoo’s office hours religiously. Sometimes the student worries that his TA thinks he has learning problems, but on the plus side: his grades are great!

 

_How can you even exist? What’s it like looking in the mirror and seeing that?!_

 

_Do you even know I exist?_

 

_Like me, the person, not the dumbass who always looks at you like an idiot when you try to explain things to him._

 

“I’ll see you all on Thursday!” The professor’s voice cuts through Daniel’s thoughts. The student hops up enthusiastically. He holds back the urge to sprint to the front of the room as students begin lining up to ask questions.

 

The queue for Seongwoo is long which comes to no surprise for Daniel. He shifts his weight from one foot to another as he waits in anticipation for what would probably be the highlight of his day. Student after student gets their two cents in until Daniel is the only one left.

 

“Excuse me, can you please clear out?” An older woman, probably the professor for the next class in that room, asks.

 

“O-oh,” Daniel’s eyes widen. His heart sinks slightly, “Yes, ma’am. Sorry!” A small frown crosses his lips as he makes his way toward the door. “U-um, another time.” He says to Seongwoo who’d started gathering the last of his things into a messenger bag.

 

“Wait,” Seongwoo says, “If you don’t have a class immediately, we can walk and talk?”

 

“I wouldn’t want to inconvenience you,” Daniel replies, the butterflies in his heart dancing at the man’s courtesy alone.

 

“It’s no inconvenience at all,” Ong grins, slinging his messenger over his shoulder before walking to the door, “After you.”

 

Daniel smiles more widely than he probably should have. He can’t be brought to care much since he’s so distracted by how sweet and kind and cute Seongwoo is. The two exit the classroom and settle into a comfortable walking pace before continuing to talk.

 

“So, is there anything specific you need help with?” Seongwoo asks, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose.

 

_Ahhh! How the heck is such a simple gesture so adorable?!_

 

“Well, um, I...” _There go my words_ , Daniel cries internally. He chuckles awkwardly, feeling heat tingle in his cheeks. “I don’t really know where to begin.”

 

Ong chuckled, “That bad, huh?”

 

“Oh, it’s bad,” Daniel says. He’s really referring more to his infatuation with the TA, not the class’s content, but Seongwoo doesn’t need to know that.

 

“Well if there’s a lot you want to discuss, you can just come by my office hours next week!”

 

Daniel scratches the nape of his neck as he answers,“Ha! I mean- I always do anyways, but yeah for su- Wait! Next week?!” The sudden realization roughly wipes the happy grin right off his face. “S-sorry, I was surprised it’s just- you usually do them on Thursday, and it’s only Tuesday. I’m, um, confused.”

 

“O-oh! I’m sorry, I, um- No,” Seongwoo bites his lip nervously, and Daniel instantly decides that any and all scheduling errors on Ong’s part are forgiven. “No, I just, um, I have to cancel tomorrow is all. There’s a scheduling conflict. I’m so sorry for any confusion.”

 

_Not getting my weekly one on one time with you is definitely a conflict, I agree!_

 

“You’re sorry? There’s no reason to apologize. Don’t worry about it, I get it. College is crazy busy! You have nothing to feel bad for.”

 

“I appreciate your understanding,” Seongwoo heaved a sigh of relief, “It’s just…” He looks Daniel in the eye, giving him a tiny smile, “You’re such a dedicated student. You work really hard and always ask for help when you need it. Not a lot of people do that. Your grades totally show it, too! It’s always nice grading your stuff because I know it’ll be breezy.” He laughed.

 

 _Actually I’m an awful student. I regularly wake up late and used to skip classes to b-boy, but I’m gonna pretend you’re right!_ Daniel thinks to himself, trying to suppress a laugh. He almost feels guilty for conning a man as sweet as Ong Seongwoo into thinking so highly of him.

 

“Wow, thank you,” Daniel beams at the compliment.

 

“Actually, you know what…” Seongwoo nibbles on his lower lip again and strokes his chin, “What are you doing tomorrow night?”

 

“Eh?” The younger student’s heart nearly catapults into the stratosphere. Blush spreads across his cheek, burning like wildfire. _Am I dead? Am I dying right now? Is this real life?!_

 

“I know it’s not normal, but- What the heck? We can meet up outside of my office for one on one time! You’re one of the best students in the program, I mean- you come _every_ week.”

 

_I go every week because I’m in love with you. But go off I guess._

 

“I- I- Are you sure?” Daniel asks to be courteous while his puppy dog eyes send a different, more needy message.

 

“Positive! What time are you available tomorrow night? I mean, assuming you still need help.”

 

“Oh, I need _so_ much help,” _Good one Daniel, you definitely didn’t just make yourself sound crazy,_ “I, um, I’m done with b-boy club around six so… Maybe seven-ish? Of course if you, like, need to cancel or anything that’s fine, just um-”

 

“Seven is fine,” Seongwoo responds, flashing another heart-melting smile, “How’s the East Library for a meeting spot?”

 

“Perfect! Um, in front of the statue?”

 

“Yeah, sounds good!”

 

“Great! I guess I’ll, um, see you then?” Daniel begins walking away, nearly floating, before Ong cuts him off.

 

“Oh, wait, one more thing!”

 

“What’s up?” The student turns on his heel, quirking an eyebrow.

 

“Um, I think it might be a good idea if we, um…” Seongwoo’s pupils start shaking about, and for a second Daniel wonders: is he _nervous_? Seeing that side of his TA made the student’s heart do flips. After a second, the aid composes himself and finishes the thought, “We should exchange numbers so we can contact each other. That way if anything comes up the other isn’t left alone at the library.”

 

_This is literally the best day of my life._

 

“That’s a good idea,” Daniel responds, hoping he sounds cool and calm. He doesn’t, but he opts not to dwell on the fact. The two swap phones, punching one another’s number in.

 

“Cute cats,” Seongwoo remarks offhandedly after seeing Daniel’s phone wallpaper. “They’re yours?”

 

_He’s asking about my cats! Holy crap! Is this what heaven is?_

 

“Yeah, they’re um, they’re named Peter and Rooney. They were strays, so we brought them into our house. Now it’s like they brought us into their house.” Daniel chuckles.

 

“Aww!” Ong clenches his heart as he hands the phone back. “That’s so sweet.”

 

“They’re, like, my world. So, no big deal.” Daniel shrugs. “What about you, any pets of your own?”

 

“Does a succulent count?”

 

Daniel nearly doubles over with laughter; he’s not sure whether Ong’s joke was actually hilarious or if his fondness for the TA made everything he said twenty times funnier. He doesn’t care.

 

“Daniel!” A voice down the hall calls. The named student’s head turns in the direction of the voice. He tilts his head in confusion, seeing that he’d been called by university royalty, aka Hwang Minhyun. He’d never spoken much to the guy. They were in a group for a class a few semesters prior, and they were genial. Friends, though? Not really.

 

“Oh,” Seongwoo’s grin falters just barely. Daniel realizes he probably wouldn’t have even noticed such a tiny detail if he didn’t obsessively stare at and fantasize about his TA all day. He also realizes how unhinged that sounds and feels grateful nobody can read his mind. “Well, I have class after this, so, um, see you for our one on one tomorrow!” The teacher’s aid politely waves goodbye to the student before walking off toward a stairwell. Daniel barely has time to reply, saying goodbye with a wave as his crush walks off.

 

 _Stupid, sexy Minhyun!_ Daniel frowns as he approaches the princely student. The trio of girls who’d been chatting the University Prince up eye Daniel with disdain. They hastily blurt out excuses as to why they all suddenly need to depart. Before the significantly less prestigious student can even say a word to them, they scatter like a school of fish who’d seen a shark.

 

“Uh, sorry if I was interrupting something,” Daniel blinks confusedly as he watches them skitter away. He could never understand or relate to people like that.

 

 _What kind of person just constantly throws themselves at the person they like so shamelessly?_ He wonders. His satisfying feeling of smugness immediately falters when he remembers that he’s the one who obsessively attends office hours in hopes of getting with the TA.

 

“I was the one who called you over,” Minhyun says with a chuckle. For a moment Daniel swears he can see sparkles and flowers materialize around the man; he’s just _that_ majestic. “I wanted to ask you a question about this morning.”

 

“Huh? This morning?” Daniel tilts his head, baffled. He couldn’t remember talking to Minhyun about anything that morning, or anything the morning before. The two hadn’t spoken since they were in the same group a semester prior.

 

“Yes, well, I saw Jaehwan had a nasty fall and you were with him… Weren’t you?” Daniel’s eyes widen and he has to hold back raucous laughter at Jaehwan’s wipeout.

 _  
_ _Why the heck does he care?! Perhaps Prince Hwang is more of a busybody than we thought._

 

“Uh, yeah. Why do you ask?”

 

“W-well, you see…” Minhyun looks down shyly and starts wringing his hands. The slightest tint of pink shades his cheeks.

 

 _No way_ , Daniel thinks as he watches on with refueled interest in the Prince’s words.

 

Minhyun continues,“I was just, um- I was wondering if Jaehwan was okay, that’s all. It seemed like a nasty fall!”

 

“You’re wondering if… Jaehwan is… okay?” Daniel can’t help but sound both puzzled and surprised.

 

The Prince gets even more pink as he sputters out his response, “I- I- well, yes- you see, Jaehwan is a classmate of mine and I was just a bit concerned. He’s in a group with me for one of my classes and, well-”

 

“That’s really nice of you,” Daniel laughs, “I never would’ve thought Jaehwan had someone like you looking out for him. Don’t worry about him, though. He’s fine. I’m sure he’s forgotten about his crash already.” He punctuates the sentence with a shrug.

 

“I see…” The Prince looks a bit relieved at the news.

 

“Can I ask you a question, though?”

 

“Hm?”

 

“Why not just ask him yourself?”

 

Minhyun is taken aback by the question. He tenses up as if he’d just been verbally attacked and his face manages to take on an even deeper shade of pink.

 

“W-well I’m um- oh! Look at that!” The Prince whips out his phone jerkily, “I have to go!” He starts briskly striding away. Glancing over his shoulder, he gives his parting statement, “Thank you for letting me know, Daniel! Have a good day!”

 

Daniel remains frozen in place as he watches what was perhaps the strangest scene he’d seen all day unfold before him. Never had he seen _the_ Prince Hwang Minhyun, effortlessly graceful master of poise, so flustered. While Daniel concedes that Jaehwan has a rather profound effect on people, that effect typically resulted in repulsion, laughter, or, occasionally, seething anger.

 

_Does he… like Jaehwan?_

  
Daniel shook his head; the possibility is entirely too farfetched to be within the realm of truth.

 

_Maybe Jaehwan just owes him money or something._

 

The student shrugs, checking his own phone. His heart bounces at the sight of a text from a certain TA’s freshly added contact:

 

“See you tomorrow at 7!

Unless Daniel put in the wrong number, in which case: I’m really sorry for the misunderstanding!!”

 

A massive smile stretches across Daniel’s face and his heart warms at the typed message. He can vividly picture the other man’s upcurved lips and adorable awkwardness just from the text. Daniel taps out a reply:

 

“Nope you got it right! See you then :)”

 

The student mentally does a victory dance before heading towards the classroom of his next class.

 

* * *

 

2PinkPark: quick question

2PinkPark: anyone wanna send me to the hospital?

 

Daniel laughs, looking down at his phone's group messaging app on a break from practicing dance after classes.

 

2PinkPark: alternatively

2PinkPark: anybody wanna forge a doctor’s note?

2PinkPark: alternatively

2PinkPark: anybody wanna dress up as me and meet w this kid for my partner project??

 

Mom8sung: LMAO

Mom8sung: Wait did you end up getting paired with that illiterate kid?

 

CatDanik1: omfg

CatDanik1: You guys are so rude!!!

CatDanik1: I thought we established he’s FOREIGN. not illiterate!!!

 

Mom8sung: All I remember is Jihoon’s story about the first day of class LOL

  
  
2PinkPark: he taps me, a total stranger

2PinkPark: points to the word “engineering” on our syllabus and his first words to me are

2PinkPark: “what does this say”  
2PinkPark: a fucking CSE major

2PinkPark: icons only

 

CatDanik1: loooool

CatDanik1: Ok but like highkey he’s outdoing all of us

CatDanik1: Like how many languages can you speak??

  
  
2PinkPark: listen   
2PinkPark: when faced with the trials of language i do what any other sensible millenial does

2PinkPark: i go at it for a month then have a mental breakdown when im not automatically good at it ultimately abandoning it and never trying again

2PinkPark: like a NORMAL person

 

Mom8sung: How’s that working out for you?

 

2PinkPark: pretty amazing actually considering im good at EVERYTHING*

2PinkPark: *some restrictions apply

 

CatDanik1: LOL

 

2PinkPark: ok but like

2PinkPark: ill take the language challenged prodigy kid over this guy

 

CatDanik1: Over who tho? like do we know him?

 

2PinkPark: id be shocked tbh

2PinkPark: he’s in my year and has apparently even had classes with me

2PinkPark: not that id know!! Lmao !!

2PinkPark: i got paired with the MUTE kid

2PinkPark: almost 2 years in this program and i havent heard him say anything!!

 

CatDanik1: Awww maybe he’s just shy?

 

Mom8sung: What’s his name?

 

2PinkPark: Park Woojin

 

CatDanik1: I FEEL like i’ve heard the name but can’t put a face to it…

CatDanik1: Either hes in one of the uni dance clubs or i accidentally took his Starbucks order once

 

Mom8sung: Yeah, I got nothin.

 

2PinkPark: [pretends to be shocked]

2PinkPark: so looking forward to a romantic evening of awkward silences

2PinkPark: what about u guys? how were ur days??

 

Mom8sung: meh

 

CatDanik1: Same pretty much

CatDanik1: Well mostly the same as usual

CatDanik1: The TA for my data structures class had to cancel office hours which kinda blows

CatDanik1: Luckily the guy’s super cool and is gonna see me tmrw anyways

 

Mom8sung: I love how you say that so nonchalantly

Mom8sung: Like you haven’t been head over heels in love with him for a year now

 

2PinkPark: only a year? It feels like so much longer XD

 

CatDanik1: Shut the heck up!!! im not head over heels for ANYTHING

 

2PinkPark: no U shut up

2PinkPark: i may be dumb

2PinkPark: but i am not stupid!

 

Mom8sung: Ehhh, jury’s out on that one

 

2PinkPark: now YOU shut up

 

CatDanik1: GUYS it is not that big of a deal  
CatDanik1: We’re just meeting in the library

CatDanik1: Sooooo romantic!!!1

 

2PinkPark: wow king  
2PinkPark: youre so talented

2PinkPark: even through text ur literally the WORST liar i have ever known

 

Mom8sung: He’s right

 

CatDanik1: Omg stOP  
CatDanik1: I think youre projecting!!!

CatDanik1: Like hes cute for a nerd

CatDanik1: Well ESPECIALLY for a nerd

CatDanik1: Well tbh him being a huge nerd and smart makes him hotter but

 

2PinkPark: oh my god

2PinkPark: ohhh my godddDDDoh mygOD

 

Mom8sung: Like we get it Daniel

 

CatDanik1: I’M NOT MADLY IN LOVE WITH HIM LIKE YOU TWO SEEM TO THINK

 

Mom8sung: Jihoon who is he trying to convince?

 

2ParkPink: i literally do not know

 

CatDanik1: OK FINE  
CatDanik1: SO WHAT IF I LIKE HIM

CatDanik1: MAYBE A LITTLE

CatDanik1: :(  
CatDanik1: Is that a crime?!

CatDanik1: I just like didn’t wanna idk

CatDanik1: Be like obnoxious about it. like I don’t wanna bother you guys all the time with me just drooling over this dude

 

Mom8sung: Wow gee, sure would be a shame if you did that.

Mom8sung: Thank god you never do that.

Mom8sung: Never.

 

2ParkPink: nope not once

 

CatDanik1: I AM NOT THAT BAD SHUT UP

CatDanik1: Name ONE time ive bothered either of you about crushing on someone or smth like that

 

Mom8sung: I can literally pull receipts from 3 hours ago in which you ask about the moral implications of going for a, and I quote, “teacher figure”

Mom8sung: Wait lemme check it really fast it’s right here

Mom8sung: [11:23 AM] CatDanik1: Like maybe not your actual professor but like a TA or student teacher?

 

2ParkPink: HHAAAHAHHAHAHA

 

CatDanik1: Dude what the HECK

 

Mom8sung: L O L

 

2ParkPink: LOL

 

CatDanik1: :”)

 

2ParkPink: ok but bro seriously

2ParkPink: dont sweat it like

2ParkPink: we all have feelings sometimes

2ParkPink: well except for me, im a hardened thug who feels nothing

2ParkPink: but thats a moot point

 

Mom8sung: Weren’t you voted the university’s “King of Cute” last semester?

 

2ParkPink: LISTEN

2ParkPink: my point IS: we dont care daniel

2ParkPink: if u wanna swoon over someone hot just do it were ur friends its what were here for

 

Mom8sung: ^^^^^^

 

CatDanik1: TT_TT  
CatDanik1: Ty guys~ I just didn’t wanna be obnoxious

 

Mom8sung: Your sad denial is probably more obnoxious than your actual swooning.

 

2ParkPink: tru dat

 

CatDanik1: Ok well if you INSIST

CatDanik1: YEAH IT’S TOTALLY JUST ONE ON ONE TOMORROW JUST HIM ME AND THE LIBRARY AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

CatDanik1: IM FREAKING OUT WHAT DO I DOO??? WHAT DO I WEAR??

 

Mom8sung: NICE! :D

 

2ParkPink: daniel listen to me

2ParkPink: just take ur shirt off

 

Mom8sung: Oh my god no.

 

CatDanik1: Why would I do THAT?!  
CatDanik1: I want him to like me NOT CALL THE COPS

 

2ParkPink: omg pleaseee

2ParkPink: sighs MOM can u please remind ur kid that hes hot

 

Mom8sung: Yes my son IS beautiful.

Mom8sung: But he is also CLASSY and would never strip on a first date like some HUSSY.

 

2ParkPink: what in the world is a “HUSSY”

2ParkPink: u kno what nevermind

2ParkPink: dan nobodys callin the cops if u strip u have a great body

2ParkPink: i bet that guy is crushing on YOU n ur too stupid to even know it

 

CatDanik1: Ha ha i wish

 

2ParkPink: oh come ON like

2ParkPink: think about it

2ParkPink: has he sent you like any SIGNS?

 

CatDanik1: Like what?

CatDanik1: Like a red one that says stop?? or one of those yellow triangle ones to show construction

 

2ParkPink: ha ha ha

2ParkPink: ma help me out here

 

Mom8sung: LOL

Mom8sung: Well, okay. So like for your one on one study sesh, how did that come about?

 

CatDanik1: Well I wanted to talk to him but his line was like SUPER long today so we didnt have time   
CatDanik1: I said “bye” or something and he was like “see you next week”

CatDanik1: I’m like “next WEEK WHAT?!” bc his office hours are like thursdays right?

CatDanik1: He tells me he’s got some other engagement going on during normal office hours and he’s busy or whatevs so he’s gotta cancel

CatDanik1: But then he’s like “well you’re so dedicated and you always come”

 

2ParkPink: i bet u do

 

CatDanik1: Shut up

CatDanik1: So anyways he tells me since I’m basically like his BEST student

 

2ParkPink: “best student” sounds fake but ok

 

Mom8sung: Let him FINISH.

 

CatDanik1: ANYWAYS

CatDanik1: He tells me he can meet me tomorrow at the library for some study time!!

 

2ParkPink: do u kno if anyone else is going

 

CatDanik1: :/ Hmm….

CatDanik1: I don’t think so? he called it 1 on 1 time now that i think about it

CatDanik1: Omg guys

CatDanik1: Am i reading too much into this?

 

Mom8sung: Sit on my lap child and listen to mama.

 

2ParkPink: omg pls delete thats weird

 

Mom8sung: It was way better in my head I swear.

Mom8sung: But, anyways. To put it simply.

Mom8sung: He’s totally into you.

 

CatDanik1: !Hhgthwshgehwghhgjfilkwej;

CatDanik1: LOL WH

CatDanik1: HOW????

 

Mom8sung: Okay so that “you’re my best student uwu I want you do well uuwwwuuu” stuff? That’s crap

Mom8sung: Coming from a grad student who has been a TA for at least one class a sem since getting into grad school… It’s crap.

Mom8sung: Sorry to burst you guys’ bubbles but your TAs don’t give a crap about you! They really don’t!!

Mom8sung: We’re way too busy trying to pass our own classes while we’re drafting up assignments and grading your awful, awful papers or babying your sorry selves during office hours to really care about you as people! Sorry not sorry!!!

 

2ParkPink: damn

2ParkPink: coooold blooded

 

CatDanik1: Seongwoo says that my work is a breeze to grade

CatDanik1: He says he LIKES grading my work

CatDanik1: :(

 

Mom8sung: I

Mom8sung: THAT

Mom8sung: NOBODY LIKES GRADING WORK. NOBODY LIKES GRADING ANYTHING.

Mom8sung: DID HE REALLY SAY THAT?

 

CatDanik1: Yes

 

Mom8sung: GOIEWJHGEK;JGA

Mom8sung: HOW CAN YOU HEAR THAT AND NOT THINK HE’S INTO YOU?!?!?!?!

Mom8sung: “Likes grading my work” MY BOOTY!!!

Mom8sung: Heck he might have it worse than you if he’s seriously saying stuff like that LMAO.

 

CatDanik1: Omg guys

CatDanik1: Please don’t get my hopes up like this lol

 

2ParkPink: either that or he’s got some weird grading obsession in which case

2ParkPink: i mean there are WORSE obsessions to have you know

 

CatDanik1: OMG PLEASE BE SERIOUS

CatDanik1: Do you guys really think I have a chance?

 

Mom8sung: Oh my god yes.

Mom8sung: You have more than a chance honey.

 

2ParkPink: it’s like one of those spinning wheels but the entire wheel is one color and it says “YES” in big letters

 

CatDanik1: :”) hgfjfhjgh

CatDanik1: Thank you guys for boosting my confidence like this haha. youre the best.

 

2ParkPink: thats great

2ParkPink: so yeah anyways just take off your clothes and ur golden he’ll love u

 

CatDanik1: I rescind my previous statement.

 

Mom8sung: LOL

 

CatDanik1: So what do I do though?? OMG what do i dO

 

Mom8sung: Calm down first of all.

 

2ParkPink: idk man what does that minhyun guy do? seems to work for him

 

Mom8sung: What? Stand there and wait for people to flock to him?

 

CatDanik1: LOL

CatDanik1: Actually funnily enough he TALKED to me today

CatDanik1: Which is weird bc I never talk to this guy but

CatDanik1: What’s WEIRDER is what he wanted

 

2ParkPink: ten thousand rubles and the keys to the lost city of atlantis

 

CatDanik1: …

CatDanik1: No but close

CatDanik1: He asked me if JaEHWAN WAS OKAY LMFAO

CatDanik1: After the Heelys accident LMAOOOO

 

2ParkPink: WAT

 

Mom8sung: WHY HAHAHAHAHA?

 

J4EHWAN: MINHYUN ASKED ABOUT ME?!

 

CatDanik1: WHAT

 

2ParkPink: WHA

 

Mom8sung: WHAT

 

CatDanik1: WHO ARE YOU

 

Mom8sung: IS THAT JAEHWAN

 

2ParkPink: WTH?!?

 

J4EHWAN: Of COURSE its me idiots who ELSE would it be??

 

Mom8sung: WHAT

 

2ParkPink: WHAT

 

CatDanik1: WHAT

CatDanik1: WHO INVITED HIM

CatDanik1: WHO INVITED U??

 

Mom8sung: Wasn’t ME

 

2ParkPink: DEF wasnt me

 

J4EHWAN: ???

J4EHWAN: idk lol it was in my inbox

 

CatDanik1: hOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN HERE?!

 

J4EHWAN: I DON’T KNOW I JUST ASSUMED ONE OF YOU ADDED ME A LONG TIME AGO TO TORMENT ME WITH YOUR STUPIDITY

 

Mom8sung: THEN WHY EVEN STAY?

 

J4EHWAN: more important question; WHAT DID MINHYUN SAY ABOUT ME I NEED DETAILS

 

CatDanik1: Actually now that u mention it he did seem kind of... flustered?

CatDanik1: Jaehwan is there something between you two that nobody knows about…? ;)

 

Mom8sung: Don’t encourage him.

 

J4EHWAN: yes

J4EHWAN: NO

J4EHWAN: MAYBE?

J4EHWAN: wHO WANTS TO KNOW Hm? So saddened by ur pathetic infatuation with ur teacher that u have to meddle in other peoples affairs??

 

2ParkPink: i feel like theres a restraining order somewhere in this story

2ParkPink: am i right?

2ParkPink: is there a restraining order somewhere here??

 

J4EHWAN: -_-

 

2ParkPink: TWO?

2ParkPink: THERES TWO RESTRAINING ORDERS?

2ParkPink: oh jaehwan you are always so FULL of surprises

 

J4EHWAN: -______-

 

2ParkPink: THREE?

2ParkPink: you MAD MAN

  


Daniel chuckles to himself, taking the strange turn of the conversation as a sign that he ought to head home soon. The student stretches, yawning with a force that shakes his entire body. His body slides to the ground and he lays still for a few minutes. Sure, food waits at home, but nothing urgently motivates Daniel otherwise; he relaxes a bit before embarking. His friends’ remarks of support floated around stubbornly at the front of his mind.

 

_I wonder if Jisung is right. He stares at the ceiling idly. Does Seongwoo… Really like me?_

 

_Ha ha no. No way!_

 

_I bet he’s just being nice. He probably pities me since I always show up. Like a stray dog that comes by a restaurant for scraps or something. Yeah. That’s probably it._

 

Images of Seongwoo flash across Daniel’s head: the way he pushes his glasses up the bridge of his nose, the slight curl that sets on the edge of his lips, his nose scrunching when he laughs, his cute birthmarks on his cheeks and neck…

 

_Ugh! This is torture!_

 

Daniel jumps up, flustered. He decides to stop driving the stake of adoration further into his heart and get moving. Scooping up his backpack, he slings the bag over one shoulder and starts moving toward the door.

 

Suddenly, something outside catches his eye.

 

The student quirks an eyebrow, slowly approaching the large windows of the studio space. He presses his face to the glass. Despite it being early evening, the sky looked significantly darker than it ought to be. The forecast hadn’t called for rain and the sun wasn’t even supposed to have set yet. Despite that, it looked like night outside. Daniel’s eyes immediately find an anomaly within the anomaly: a bright, glowing object in the sky.

 

“A star?” He wonders out loud. The “star”, however, appears much brighter than any star he’d ever seen. When he sees the object moving across the sky, he squints his eyes, “A plane?”

 

The object realistically looks way too bright to be a plane. As a matter of fact, it seems to be growing brighter as it grows closer.

 

_Closer?!_

  
Daniel’s eyes blow open with shock. His mouth gapes but his feet can’t move. He remains glued in place, mesmerised by the gleaming mass careening toward earth. The light grows more and more intense by the second, and Daniel’s eyes sting because of it; yet, he still can’t look away. He wonders if it’s some massive meteor, if it’s going to wipe out the human race. Even with such urgent, damning thoughts and panic filling his brain, he still can’t move.

 

All he can do is watch, and watch he does.

 

The object’s white light swells. It fills Daniel’s eyes, blinding him. The dancer stumbles backward, falling onto his butt helplessly. All he can see is white, and for a second he wonders if he’s died.

 

Abruptly, the light fades. Daniel’s jaw drops open and all he can bring himself to do is stare out the window. Orange and red rays of sunlight begin drowning out the darkness once more, and soon the evening sky returns to normal.

 

“Eh?!” Daniel blinks a dozen times just to make sure his eyes were alright. He waves his hand in front of his face to make sure his vision wasn’t playing some sort of trick on him and rushes over to the window once more. Squinting at the sky, he waits for something to happen, anything. Some explosion, a column of smoke rising from between buildings, screaming, crashed planes…

 

Nothing happens.

 

He quickly fishes his phone out from the pocket of his joggers and opens the messenger app once more:

 

CatDanik1: DID YOU GUYS SEE THAT

CatDanik1: PLEASE TELL ME ONE OF YOU SAW THAT

CatDanik1: PLEASE TELL ME IM NOT GOING CRAZY

 

2PinkPark: i was JUST about to ask about that

2PinkPark: assuming we saw the same thing

 

Mom8sung: khg;sfj;jfheg YES

Mom8sung: My eyes HURT ugh

 

J4EHWAN: that shooting star?

 

CatDanik1: Is that what it was? i couldnt tell :(

 

2PinkPark: idk ur guess is as good as mine

2PinkPark: wait is everyone like safe?

 

Mom8sung: I thought it looked like a comet or something

Mom8sung: Before I went BLIND anyways

Mom8sung: Also yeah I’m fine

 

J4EHWAN: who knows. news crews will probably be all over the crash site in like ten minutes

J4EHWAN: it probably ended up in some grandma’s lawn

J4EHWAN: she’ll say smth cute and stupid, go viral, get rich and retire to jeju island or smth

J4EHWAN: go off grandma

J4EHWAN: go off

 

Mom8sung: …Anyways…

Mom8sung: That’s actually… Not a bad point. Keep your eyes on your TL lads we’ll probably hear about this in a few

 

CatDanik1: Yeah tru, ill check my feed on the train home

 

Mom8sung: You’re STILL AT SCHOOL?!

Mom8sung: DANIEL GO HOME.

Mom8sung: DOESN’T B-BOY END AT LIKE FRICKEN 6??

 

CatDanik1: :3

CatDanik1: Yeah but I like to practice extra

CatDanik1: Leaving now hehe

 

Mom8sung: Text me when you get home

 

CatDanik1: k~

 

J4EHWAN: awwww that’s really sweet

 

2PinkPark: shut up nobody asked u

 

Daniel chuckles, one again exiting the messaging app.

 

He _does_ feel guilty about getting home so late, but perfecting his dance routine is more important to him than a few extra hours of being lazy.

 

However, one thing does fill him with regret. When he gets home, the first thing he sees is a note on the kitchen table:

 

“Went to bed. Hope practice went well!!

 

I know you are working hard and I admire that very much. Please text me if you will be home late from now on. Dak bulgoki and rice are in the fridge for you.

 

Love you!!! :) XOXO Mom”

 

Daniel’s heart simultaneously swells and sinks as he reads the note.

 

 _I’m the worst son_ , He laments as he paces over to the fridge. His mom has always been his lifeline, the only constant in his life. She never stopped supporting or believing in her son, even when he skipped classes to dance or talked back. She showed up to every recital, worked extra shifts to pay for lessons, and did so while taking care of her son by herself.

 

The student presses a few numbers on the microwave and watches mindlessly as the turnstile rotates with a buzzing sound.

 

_Don’t worry, Mom._

 

_One day I’ll be able to take good care of you- no. Great care of you! Amazing care! You’ll never have to work for anything! ANYTHING!_

 

“Beep! Beep! Beep!” The microwave chirps, interrupting his stupor. Daniel sighs, taking out the tupperware and blowing at the steam that floats up from the container. He sets the bulgoki and rice down, deciding to spend his time waiting for it to cool down productively.

 

Quietly, the student walks upstairs. He reaches his mom’s room and turns the doorknob slowly to avoid making noise. Though dark, he manages to navigate the space well enough and tiptoes over to the side of her bed. As the note had told him: she was fast asleep. Daniel smiles, leaning down to place the most soft, gentle kiss on her forehead.

 

“Sleep well,” He whispers before exiting her room as silently as possible.

 

The second he closes the door, his stomach rumbles, and he eagerly descends the steps. He can barely wait to grab chopsticks before plucking a piece of chicken from the tupperware and plunging it into his mouth.

 

“Mmm!” He smiles and does a giddy dance, quickly downing the dish.

 

The rest of the night proceeds uneventfully. He flops into bed and watches some music videos on his phone. He checks the groupchat, but there are few new messages after they all freaked out about the comet thing. Scrolling down his other social media feeds, Daniel’s brow furrow in surprise. There’s not one mention of the weird celestial phenomenon that had just occurred hours ago. Not _one_.

 

_Maybe it’s a government conspiracy and some drone or UFO was knocked out of the sky or something. Spooky!_

 

He shrugs the thoughts off, not really committed to caring all too much. He knows he should study, and he really, _truly_ thinks hard about doing it. Too bad, his Nintendo Switch ends up being closer to his bed than his laptop, and he picks that up instead. _Woops_.

 

A few hours are burned by gaming, and soon the minutes on Daniel’s clock tick dangerously close to midnight.

 

Ugh, already? Maybe just… Another half hour, He tells himself.

 

“ _Buzz_!”

 

“Wh-!” Daniel jumps at the sudden vibration in his left pocket. He draws his phone out from his sweats, nearly dropping it. He squints at the screen to read the text alert on his phone:

 

“Ong Seongwoo Liked “Nope you got it right! See you then :)”. Reply?”

 

Daniel’s heart did cartwheels as he read and reread the notification. It’s stupid. It’s beyond stupid that he gets this worked up over a guy pressing “like” on one of his replies.

 

_Did Seongwoo not see it before? What if he was just thinking about me and thought to do it? Oh my God what if he’s thinking about me LATE AT NIGHT!?_

 

The student nearly starts hyperventilating but quickly urges himself to calm down. He rolls around in his bed a few times, smiling ecstatically. When rolling around doesn’t adequately help him vent his happy feelings he hops up, scooping up Rooney and dancing around his room.

 

Suddenly, he stops. An idea occurs to him: the sooner he goes to bed, the sooner it’s the next day. The sooner the next day comes, the sooner he can see Seongwoo.

 

_I need to go to bed. Now._

 

He places dozens of soft kisses on his cat’s head before putting her down. The creature blinks at him serenely before retiring to a platform on the cat tree he kept in the corner of the room. Hastily, Daniel makes sure all of his alarms are set and his bookbag is packed for the next day. He turns off his light and basically throws his body into bed before sliding under the blankets. Unparalleled excitement makes his entire body buzz, and he can hardly will himself to close his eyes.

 

_Tomorrow is gonna be the best. Day. Ever!_

 

After tossing and turning and thinking about what he’s gonna wear, he finally falls into a dreamless sleep, excited for what the next day has to bring.

 

* * *

 

“Wake up…” A soft voice enters Kang Daniel’s ear, penetrating the black veil of sleep that’d wrapped itself around him.

 

“Mn…” Daniel mumbles, “I don’t wanna…” He turns over, shoving his face into his pillow.

 

“Daniel, we have important things to talk about. You need to wake up.” The voice says again. The woman’s voice sounds calm and level; The student finds it surprising considering that his mom typically scolds him right off the bat. He takes it as a sign that it’s not actually that late and that he has some time to sleep in.

 

“Five minutes,” Daniel yawns and stretches, snuggling into his blankets more tightly,“Five more minutes and I’ll be up.”

 

“You need to get up now, Daniel. This is very important!” The voice is less patient.

 

Daniel whines, “What’s so important that it can’t wait five?” His voice is still thick with grogginess.

 

“You need to feed me!” The voice demands. The student groans. He sits up and rolls his eyes, ready to hear what it is his mom needs.

 

I swear, if this is gonna be another one of those ‘you’re the only one who will be around to take care of me when I’m old’ kind of lectures-

  
Wiping his eyes, Daniel turns to face the doorway. He opens his mouth to complain to his mom, but nothing comes out. He blinks.

 

“Uh, mom?” He asks, utterly confused. To his surprise, his mom isn’t standing in the doorway of his bedroom with crossed arms, tapping her toe. As a matter of fact, she isn’t standing there at all. The door’s not even open. His head whips around in search of her, but he sees nothing. Not a speck of dust is out of place. “Mooooom!” He sighs exasperatedly. _Figures she would pull something like this to get me out of bed._

 

“I’m not your mom,” The woman’s unamused voice sounds out again.

 

Daniel jumps out of his bed with a shock. He looks around frantically, trying to find the source of the voice.

 

“ _Clunk_!”

 

As he’s rifling through his sheets, he hears the telltale sign of his phone dropping off of the blanket onto the floor.

 

“Of course,” He mumbles, getting down on all fours to find out where the heck the thing flew to this time. As he searches, his cat, Peter walks up to him, butting him with her head to say hello. Despite his annoyance at the far too early wake up call, he can’t help but feel his heart melt, and he makes a kissy face at the cat. “Hewwo.” He cooes.

 

The calico cat blinks at him and opens its mouth, “Hewwo,” The creature mimics, “Now please, feed me!” She punctuates the point by batting at his nose with her paw.

 

Daniel freezes.

 

He blinks a couple of times and smiles blankly.

 

 _What_ ? He wonders, _Did my cat just talk?_ Unable to handle what is probably the most adorable and funny dream he’s had in his life, Daniel breaks out into laughter. He laughs so hard that his stomach hurts, and he starts smacking the ground.

 

“Oh my gosh! Peter you can-” He wipes a tear from his eye, still giggling, “-you can talk! Hahaha- This is the best dream ever. Oh my god you have to tell me _everything_ about being a cat.” He shoves his face close to the cat’s, eyes sparkling with awe.

 

The cat doesn’t seem as amused, “Daniel, you’re not dreaming!” She pouts.

 

“Oh my god you are so _cuuute_! You sound older than I would have imagined, though. Guess my subconscious has different ideas than I do...”

 

“I told you he’d think it was a dream,” Another voice joins the conversation, this one coming from a perch on the cat tree. Looking down at both of them is Rooney. She blinks at the human when he addresses her before continuing with her morning cat bath nonchalantly.

 

“Rooney, you can talk too?!” He beams.

 

Peter sighs, “Yes, Daniel. I can talk. She can talk. We can all talk. However, we _can’t_ all get into the food bag. You can!” She lightly bats his face with her paw once more.

 

Daniel can barely speak audibly, his voice comes out as more of a gleeful squeak,“Awww, I just can’t take you seriously this is like literally a dream I’ve wanted to have ever since-”

 

“Daniel!” Suddenly another woman’s voice enters the fray. A very, very familiar voice.

 

“M-mom!” Daniel’s eyes widen as his actual mother darkens the doorway.

 

“Daniel wake- oh. Oh you’re… You’re up.” Her tone immediately softens, and a look of pleasant surprise spreads across her fame. “Well… Come downstairs when you’re ready. You may actually have time to eat a proper breakfast today!” She blows a kiss to her son before closing the door behind her.

 

 _This dream is… Weird. I’ve never had a dream so realistic before. Man! Even in my dreams mom still scolds me to wake me up!_ Daniel sighs and stands up.

 

He looks down at Peter, smiling brightly, “Alright, it’s time for your breakfast, too.”

 

“Thank you!” Peter beams. A loud purr sounds out from where Rooney lounges on the cat tree.

  
Daniel grabs the cat food container out of the dedicated cat corner he’d carved out in his closet. He scoops food into each of the small bowls nearby and watches contentedly as his cats swarm the food bowls. The two dig in eagerly, and the student can’t help but feel a rush of joy come over him from watching them. He sits cross legged on the ground and watches them eat merrily.

 

After eating a hearty helping, Peter pipes up, “So, now that we can talk and stuff, I’m thinking we can start negotiating on a few aspects of our living conditions.” Daniel laughs and nods, watching idly as Peter lists the merits of wet versus dry food along with a list of human foods that cats are capable of eating. He glances around his room - his dream room - and notes that it’s… Exactly the same as his regular room!

 

_Man if it wasn’t for my cats, this dream would totally suck!_

 

“...Of course that’s not why we’re really here- wait. Are you even listening?!” Peter scolds Daniel. She bats at him with her paw, “Hey! Human! Have you heard a word I said?!”

 

“Hm?” Daniel’s attention snapped back to the talking cat’s words, “S-sorry, not really,” He scratches the back of his head sheepishly. “You’re just… You’re so cute! I would have imagined your voice a bit higher, you know. Like, cuter-”

 

“Oh, so just because I’m small means I have to sound like a kid?” Peter pouts again.

 

“Well you awe my wittle baby,” He coos, making more kissy faces. With a sigh, he comments, “Man, I like this dream. I don’t wanna wake up and go to school.”

 

“Seriously, man? You’re not dreaming!” Says, taking a seat next to Peter.

 

“Ha ha, okay!” Daniel snorts.

 

“We’re serious!” Peter insists. “We don’t have time for this, either! How can we get you to believe us?”

 

“Why not just do it the old fashioned way?” Rooney titters, pouncing on Daniel’s lap. Before the human can react, she bites down on the hand that had been resting on one of his knees. She didn’t bite hard, but just enough to make it definitely noticeable.

 

“Wh- Ow! Hey! That’s not nice!” Daniel jumps up, “That- that hurt! Wait…” He pauses and looks down at his hand. Rooney didn’t puncture skin, but there were clear indents left by her teeth, “That hurt…” He repeats. “That hurt!”

 

“What- what- what- what-” He starts freaking out, throwing his head in his hands. He rushes to his bedroom window and presses his face against the glass in hopes that he’d see something weird, something off. Anything to prove that he was still in a dream.

 

“What the heck is happening?!” He wails upon seeing everything outside his window looking perfectly, one hundred percent normal. “Y-you- you can t-talk?!”

 

“Oh boy,” Rooney sighs, pressing a paw to her forehead.

 

“No!” Daniel hops back into his bed resolutely, “Nope, nope, nope. Not today. Not today! Today is- is normal. Today’s gotta go well, it’s gotta be normal and- and- perfect. I’m meeting Seongwoo, nothing weird is allowed to happen today!” He slams his body down, throwing his blanket over his head and squeezing his eyes shut.

 

“Daniel!” The muffled voice of the student’s mother comes in through the shut door after a few minutes, “Breakfast is ready!” Daniel opens one eye and peeks out from beneath his blanket.

 

 _Did… Did it work?_ He wonders. He steps out of bed quietly, looking around suspiciously. He nearly reaches the door when he thinks he’s in the clear.

 

“So how’d that work out for ya?” Rooney asked dryly. Daniel’s head slowly turns in horror to face his cats. Both of them sat on the ground near him, looking up expectantly.

 

“Nope!” Daniel exclaims, “Nope, nope, nope! Not today, demons!” He suddenly bursts out in bellowing laughter, “Ha ha, nope! This is not happening. So, yeah. Goodbye! I’m taking a shower. A cold, cold shower. Then I’ll really, truly wake up.” He dashes out his door to the bathroom to take the aforementioned cold shower.

 

Rooney and Peter sigh.

 

“Daniel’s uh… He’s kind of an idiot sometimes, isn’t he?” Rooney asks.

 

“Yes but he’s our idiot,” Peter replies resignedly.

 

Daniel’s shower goes by quickly. He shivers beneath the icy cold jets of water shooting from his shower. He admits that it’s pretty invigorating, but he also never, ever wants to do it again. When freezing cold water doesn’t wake him up, he starts resigning himself to the fact that he may actually be awake after all.

 

He changes into some easy clothes for university with a frown. Looking in the mirror, he goes through his skincare regiment, psyching himself up as he follows each step.

 

_Okay, so, talking cats… Maybe I… Maybe I’m hallucinating and need to see a doctor! Wait that’s… That’s not good. Okay maybe… Maybe I have super powers! Okay that’s just plain dumb. What if… What if that comet was some radioactive bomb and it mutated my cats! Yeah! That’s- that’s._

 

_That’s dumb._

 

Daniel frowns, no closer to a conclusion than he’d been before stepping into the freezing shower. He slumps down onto his bed in defeat.

 

“So how’d the cold shower go?” Rooney asks in a singsong voice.

 

“It was fine,” Daniel replies glumly. He doesn’t even care anymore. He realizes he’s probably in need of medical help but, on the plus side: talking cats!

 

Peter hops up to join him on the bed and gives him a reassuring pat on the leg, “There, there. I guess it’s not easy for humans to accept weird stuff like this, huh?”

 

“You’re telling me,” Daniel replies, “One time I dyed my hair pink and they started calling me a peach. They still call me peach to this day!”

 

“Well, now that you’re a bit more calm, I think it’s time that we talk about something very, very important,” Peter tells him. Rooney jumps onto the bed to be a part of the conversation as well, looking at Daniel intently. Peter begins, “Kang Daniel, you are-”

 

“Oh my god!” Daniel suddenly jumps up. His jaw drops open in horror and his eyes blow open wide, “ _What am I going to wear to see Seongwoo_?!” He turns to his cats with a look of pure horror on his face. Both the cats exchange looks of of shock, their ears folding back and eyes widening.

 

Peter tries to cut into the human’s thoughts,“W-well, let’s worry about that in a minute, right now we need to-”

 

“This is a disaster!” Rooney cuts her off, her tiny kitty jaw dropping in devastation, “Why didn’t you plan this in advance?”

 

“Rooney,” Daniel cries, “You are so, so right. This is on me. Oh my God what am I gonna _do_?!”

 

Rooney trots over to his closet to help him with outfit selection, and Peter watches on in disbelief.

 

“What about this?” Daniel holds up one of his favorite hoodies, a black one with a rapper’s image on the front.

 

“This is Ong Seongwoo, the guy you’ve been crushing on for a year! At least try and take this seriously, Daniel!” Rooney scolds.

 

“Guys…” Peter mumbles.

 

“Right, right, right,” Daniel eyes the contents of hsi closet discerningly. He holds up a few button down options, “Better?”

 

“Much!” Rooney nods, “Now, I may be colorblind, but I think blue is a great color on you-”

 

“Guys?” Peter lifts waves a paw at them.

 

“I kinda wanna look cool, though. I was thinking black?”

 

“Wait, what about the yellow thing? That tee, with the- the smooth jacket, um-”

 

“The LAP shirt? With the leather jacket!”

 

“I only understood like half of those words, but yes!”

 

“Oh my god, yes! Okay, okay- what about these slacks?” Daniel asks, holding up a pair of tailored pants.

 

“Way too formal! You’re studying, not going to the opera!”

 

“Jeans?”

 

“Hello?” Peter interjects weakly again.

 

“Yes get the ones with the holes in the knees!”

 

“Yes, _yes_!” Daniel beams, folding the outfit selected and packing them into his bookbag neatly for after b-boy.

 

“Okay,” The calico cat sighs with relief, “Now that that’s sorted out-”

 

“Daniel! If you don’t come down soon, breakfast will be cold!” Daniel’s mother calls from the ground floor.

 

Daniel’s face lights up at the mention of food. He snatches his backpack in one hand and his phone in the other, dashing down the stairs before the cats can get another word in. The two fluffy creatures look at one another then at the open door of his bedroom.

 

“Don’t worry,” Rooney says, “We can just tell him when he comes back!”

 

As if on cue, the two cats hear the sound of the front door shutting. They exchange worried looks and hop on the human’s bed to look out the window. The two watch their caretaker walk off toward the train station in defeat.

 

“I blame you,” Peter huffs, leaping off of the bed.

 

“Wh- It was _important_!” Rooney insists, following. “Where are you going?”

 

“We’re gonna follow him to school, dummy. Once mom leaves we can slip out.”

 

“Ugh, _fine_ ,” Rooney groans. The two head downstairs, poised to make their escape when the time was right.

 

* * *

 

Daniel stumbles onto the train platform when the transit reaches his stop. He manages to stumble into a few people who then stumble into one another, eliciting a chorus of angered groans.

 

“Hey, watch where you’re going!” “No, watch where _you’re_ going!” “Are you braindead?!”

 

The student awkwardly shuffles around the irritated commuters in hopes that nobody singles him out as the person who tripped first. Needless to say, he’s had a rather eventful morning. He woke up to his cats talking first of all. His train was delayed which resulted in a ton of angry people at the station. When it had finally arrived, everyone shoved and pushed one another aside to get on. People even argued over seats! Daniel ended up wedged into a corner uncomfortably, but he took it well enough.

 

_Why is everyone so annoyed this morning? It’s not even Monday. I guess the delay got people riled up. What’s there to be so mad about, anyways? It’s a beautiful day outside!_

 

The student shrugs it off and starts his trip to campus. It’s a pretty short walk from the station, and he ends up in front of the engineering building with ample time to spare. The whole “early” thing feels a bit foreign to Daniel, and he’s not quite sure what to do with himself. He decides to take a seat on a bench and open up the group message to see what the others are up to. There are a few back and forth messages from the previous night. Unsurprisingly, Jisung’s the first message of the morning.

 

Mom8sung: Good morning everyone! ^_^

 

CatDanik1: Gm~

 

2PinkPark: it is morning, my dudes

2PinkPark: aaaaAAAAAAAAA

 

Mom8sung: Good morning to everyone except Jihoon! ^_^

 

2PinkPark: man nobody respects a good morning meme anymore

 

CatDanik1: Actually i just thought of smth

CatDanik1: Guys i have a question

CatDanik1: Did any of you see any mention of the comet thingy on the news last night?

CatDanik1: Or like on your twitter feed or smth??

 

Mom8sung: Hmm… Now that you mention it. No?

 

2PinkPark: i was up all night playing overwatch but now that you mention it

2PinkPark: i didnt see anything

2PinkPark: nothing this morning either…

 

CatDanik1: OMG guys do u think its a…

CatDanik1: Conspiracy :OOOO

 

Mom8sung: Oh my god.

 

2PinkPark: most definitely yes

 

Daniel chuckles as the chat filled with messages arguing about the merits of conspiracy theories. Jisung insists the celestial phenomenon thing was not a nuclear missile. Jihoon insists that lizard people are going to emerge from the Earth’s crust at any second. Daniel considers mentioning his talking cats, just as a joke, of course; however, he refrains from doing so. It ultimately seems like kind of a bad idea to bring it up.

 

He closes the chat app and scrolls some of his social media feeds. It’s just like his friends had said: there still wasn’t any talk about the falling star thing. Nothing. Daniel would’ve thought he’d imagined it had it not been for the others in the group text mentioning it too. He decides not to get worked up about it and continues scrolling, liking cat pictures and cute animal videos. Suddenly, out of the corner of his eye, Daniel notices something shift. He blinks, taking his eyes off the phone screen to look at what it was. He’d thought it was a leaf or something, but it turned out to be so, so much worse. Just inches from his seat on the bench sat a bug.

 

Daniel turns to stone, staring petrified at the creepy, crawly creature.

 

It’s not any ordinary bug, it’s like nothing he’s ever had the misfortune of seeing in his life.

 

It’s big, like, _really_ big. The thing sits about as long as Daniel’s palm and nearly half as wide. It has long, thin legs and from one end (an end Daniel assumes is its head or face) two long, hook-like claw-jaw like things protrude. The thing is black as night save for a slightly violet iridescence reflecting off of its shell-like exterior where the sun hits. The student swears he can feel his soul lifting from his body as he remains paralyzed in sheer horror. As if smelling the student’s fear, the insect shuffles forward toward him.

 

Panic takes control of Daniel’s body, and he lets out a loud scream, jolting off of the bench and running for dear life. After the bench he’d been sitting on is out of sight, the student hunches over to catch his breath. He notices a few strange looks from students who had witnessed his little meltdown and tries to play it cool.

 

“Acting!” He says to a group of girls who’d been passing by, “I’m acting! For- for a play. I’m in a… A theater club.” He leans against a nearby tree in a manner that he hopes communicates: “I’m not crazy”. The trio of girls merely give him judgemental looks before walking off.

 

“Phew,” Daniel heaves a sigh of relief after avoiding his near death experience. He has zero idea what circle of hell that bug had come from, but he knows it’s not one he feels like messing with. Ever.

 

CatDanik1: Yall i just almost died

 

Mom8sung: ARE YOU OKAY!?

 

2PinkPark: what happened??

 

CatDanik1: There was this bug

 

Mom8sung: Oh.

 

2PinkPark: oh

2PinkPark: false alarm

2PinkPark: pack up everybody u can go home now

 

CatDanik1: GUYS!!

CatDanik1: No for real like ive never seen a bug like this in my LIFE

CatDanik1: I guess u could describe it like if a stag beetle had babies with a nightmare

CatDanik1: And that baby was like as big as my palm

CatDanik1: Thats what this bug is

 

Mom8sung: Of course it was.

 

CatDanik1: :(

CatDanik1: Well whatever im fine anyways NOT THAT U CARE

 

2PinkPark: u didnt freak out and run screaming did you??

 

CatDanik1: Nah son  
CatDanik1: I peaced out realllll fast lol handled it like a CHAMP

 

Mom8sung: No, he totally freaked out.

 

CatDanik1: WHAT MAKES YOU SO SURE?? SMH!!

 

Mom8sung: “@minamina101: yall i just saw a grown ass dude running and screaming like a lil GIRL in front of the engineering building LMAOOOOOO. like ME TOO dude!! damn!!! LOOOLLL”

 

2PinkPark: oh i just saw that to lmao

 

CatDanik1: Oh my god

 

Mom8sung: Oh look, there’s video too!

Mom8sung: “@1y0ojung1: ummmmm…. Is he okay? Lol https://t.co/1dk143w1”

 

CatDanik1: ….

CatDanik1: It was nice knowing you guys

CatDanik1: Now I have to go into witness protection I guess…

CatDanik1: Tell my mom i love her

 

2ParkPink: u kno i was having a crappy morning but this…

2ParkPink: [sniffs]

2ParkPink: this is the stuff that makes life worth living

 

Mom8sung: Don’t worry! We can’t see your face in the vid! :D

 

CatDanik1: Ok whatever ill see you guys at lunch TT_TT

 

Daniel groans and locks his phone. He prays that Seongwoo isn’t an avid user of social media. The mere thought of his TA seeing a video of him running around like a raving lunatic makes him want to dig a grave and lay in it. He scratches the back of his neck in dejection.

 

_Okay, so like, even if he does see it. He might not recognize me, right? Hey may not even watch it._

 

He scratches his head.

 

_What if he brings it up? He’d never do that… Right? Oh god, what if he does? What will I tell him? What if he sees it and cancels on me?!_

 

_No, Daniel, nope. It’s not gonna go like that. It’ll be fine. You’re gonna be fine. Just because your cats can talk and bugs are the physical manifestation of eldritch horror doesn’t mean you can’t have a good day!_

 

He itches the back of his shoulder, but for some reason, it tickles. He does it again, but can’t quite hit the spot. When he does it a third time, he feels something brush his finger.

 

He freezes.

 

Shakily, he slowly turns his head to glance over his shoulder. Agonized horror holds him in place when he sees that the thing brushing against his finger: another horrible bug.

 

“ _Ahhhhhhhhh_ !” Daniel screams with no reservation. At that point he doesn’t care who hears him or if he goes viral. He _touched_ one of those things!

 

The student catapults himself off of the tree. He glances back at the horrific creature and his jaw drops when he sees not one bug, not two, but nearly a dozen. They scurry up and down the trunk of the tree in an unsettling manner.

 

 _I… I was leaning on that…_ Daniel thinks, completely devastated.

 

Suddenly, little blots of purple and black dot his vision everywhere. Daniel tries to avert his gaze, but everywhere he looks there are bugs. Bugs, bugs, bugs. They’re sitting on leaves, walking across the pavement, crawling across benches or on the brim of trash cans. His eyes follow a couple of students, and he even notices a bug on one of their shoulders. Their _shoulder_.

 _  
_ _How are people so calm?!_

 

He has half a mind to warn the student that they were probably about to get a gnarly bite, but they disappear into the engineering building too quickly. Something scratches Daniel ankle and he looks down. He chills to the bone upon realizing that one of the abominations had started to make its way up his pant leg.

 

“A-a-ah-” At first he can’t even scream, he can’t even comprehend what’s happening. All he can process is tickle of little legs scuttling up his pant leg.

 

“A-Ahhhhhh! Get it off! Get it off!” In an absolute panic, Daniel starts sprinting around like a mad man. He shakes his leg violently, but he still feels the tiny legs making their way up his body. The sucker squeezes itself out through the waistband of his sweats and continues working its way up. “Get it off!! Getitoffgetitoffgetitoff!”

  
Tears start to fill his eyes as he tries to find some escape from the bug laden prison of the outdoors. No matter where he turns, there’s a disgusting, revolting, skin crawling monster. The student gives up on the great outdoors, concluding that it’s really not so great after all. He wishes he’d brought his electric bug baton and reminds himself never to leave home without it again. A tingle runs up his back as his own, personal tormentor reaches the nape of his neck.

 

“I don’t wanna die like this!” Daniel wails, dropping to his knees. Fear roots him in place, and all he can do is furiously wring his hands through his hair and accept fate as he feels a pair of pincers graze his ear. In a complete state of panic, all he can do is scream,“Aaaaah-”

 

“ _Thud_!”

 

The heavy thudding drowns out everything, and silence ensues for a minute or so.

 

“O...Ow.” Daniel finally says as pain pulses from the back of his head. His hands drop, and he slumps.

 

“S-sorry!” A low voice from behind him apologizes. Daniel turns around and quirks an eyebrow. He thought he’d recognized the person’s voice; it belonged to none other than the university’s price: Hwang Minhyun.

 

“Wh-what was that for?” Daniel asks with a sniffle. It hurt!

 

“W-well,” Minhyun whispers, “That giant bug on the back of your head looked really scary, and I, uh, panicked.” He holds up a hefty textbook. The fat book looks like it used to be in good condition; but, due to the massive mess of bug plastered on its back cover, it didn’t seem likely that it’d see much use moving forward.

 

“Oh. Uh, thanks, I guess?” Daniel stands up to face the other, “I-is there bug stuff on my hair?”

 

Minhyun winces and nods, “Yeah. You’ll definitely want to clean that. I bet one of the chem labs is empty at this time, though. They usually have sinks in those things, you can wash off there.” Daniel heaves a sigh of relief. Being covered in bug guts is gross, but it’s way better than being, well, covered in bugs.

 

“Thanks, Minhyun,” He gives the prince a friendly smile, “I don’t know if you noticed, but I kinda lose my cool when it comes to bugs. They’re like my one big fear.” Minhyun chuckles, and for a second Daniel can swear he sees sparkles and flowers materialize around him again.

 

“I may have noticed,” The prince replies with a smile, “Just a tiny bit. To be honest, I don’t have nearly as big an issue as you, but… They’re just everywhere today, aren’t they? It’s really freaking me out, too.” Knowing that someone else notices and feels the same way comforts Daniel a lot. His shoulders relax and he flashes the prince another grin, scratching the back of his head.

 

“At least someone else here is sane! A lot of these people are walking around like it’s nothing! I don’t know how they can do it… Guess I better find one of those empty chem labs, huh?”

 

“I can show you to one if you want!” Minhyun offers.

 

 _Generous, kind and handsome? Plus he kills bugs fearlessly?! This guy is too good to be true!_ Daniel considers that, if Seongwoo didn’t exist, he’d probably be head over heels for Prince Hwang, too.

 

“Are you sure? I really don’t wanna trouble you!”

 

“Trouble me? Trust me, Daniel. It would be more troubling to know you’re walking around all dirty than for me to show you to a lab.” Minhyun says with a grin. The statement strikes Daniel as kind of odd, but he doesn’t really think much of it. He happily follows Minhyun into the nearby building to clean up.

 

Sure, his morning had had a few hiccups, but there’s no way he was gonna let all of that interfere with how awesome his day was gonna be. No. Frickin. Way.

 

* * *

 

 _I really should stop sitting by the window_ , Daniel thinks. Halfway through his noon class, his stomach is practically eating itself alive. Typically his window seat in the atrium sized lecture hall gave him a nice view of the outdoors. Today, however, it gave him a stark reminder of the dangers that lurked beyond the safety of the indoors.

 

He sighs, trying to pay attention to the slides that his professor presents on the big screen. Even with maximum effort, nothing can quite stick. He’s too distracted by, well, everything. Waking up to talking cats, bugs everywhere, his little mental breakdown, Seongwoo… He wanted to bang his head against a wall!

 

Normally on sunny days, nothing de-stressed him quite like a nice walk or skate around the courtyard, but the knowledge that those bugs lurked just beyond the glass of the window irks him too much. His mind slowly turns to mush as everything competes for his attention: his studies, the groupchat, his upcoming date, his cats pawing at the window, all those bugs-

 

 _Wait_.

 

Daniel blinks puzzledly, glancing out the window. His eyes blow wide open when he realizes that his cats are _there_. Peter and Rooney. Right outside the window. At. His. School. His gaze darts around in hopes that nobody else has noticed; luckily, nobody has. Most people were dozing off or watching the professor’s lecture attentively. Hardly anyone who sat in the back corner of the room paid attention to anything other than their laptops or phones. The student turns to the window again and hopes that what he’d seen was just a fever dream.

 

It isn’t.

 

He mouths out explicitly, “GO AWAY,” exaggeratedly waving them away. Peter continues pawing at the window; her mouth opens to let out a meow, not that anyone could hear through the glass. Rooney ducks down for a second, returning with a piece of paper in her mouth. It reads:

 

“WE NEED TO TALK.”

 

“H-how?” Daniel accidentally mutters.

  
“Did you have a question?” The professor’s voice belts out, echoing in the large room. Daniel nearly falls out of his chair from surprise.

 

_How good is that man’s hearing?!_

 

“N-no, professor. I’m fine. I figured it out,” Daniel squawks back nervously. The man seems satisfied and moves along.

 

Daniel turns to nonverbally berate his kitties, but when he faces the window again, they’re gone. He internally groans, sliding down in his chair in exasperation.

 

_How did they even write a sign?_

 

He spends the remainder of the class picturing the multiple ways a cat could write on a piece of paper in marker. The handwriting looked surprisingly neat, and they didn’t have opposable thumbs, so the mouth seemed the most likely route to go. Before he can get into the logistics of cat dexterity in relation to small mechanical movements, the clock strikes one thirty, signalling the end of class.

 

Daniel triumphantly bursts out of his seat, excited to see his friends and even more excited to eat! He doesn’t know what his cats thought it so urgent to tell him, but it can wait for some munchies. He figures everything will go back to normal soon.

 

* * *

 

“What’s up, man!” Jihoon waves Daniel over to a table in one of the university dining halls. Typically they ate outside, but in lieu of bugocalypse, Daniel kindly asked that they eat indoors. Jihoon had taken a table at the far end of the dining hall, and Jisung had already joined him.

 

Daniel happily trots over to meet the two, giddily clutching the bag with the day’s meal: a barbecue meat sandwich with sides. He slides into a seat, grinning widely as he greets his friends.

 

“Yo! Hope you guys had a good morning!” He beams while withdrawing his sandwich from the bag. Decorum and etiquette take a backseat, and he starts digging in.

 

“Meh, it was alright,” Jisung replies, forking a massive salad in front of him.

 

“Same,” Jihoon nods in consensus before blowing on the noodles he’d scooped out of a bowl. After taking a hefty slurp, he comments, “Oh, I saw one of those bugs you were talking about!”

 

Daniel jumps at the mere mention of one, “Oh, God! Did you kill it? Please tell me you killed it.”

 

“Nuh-uh,” Jihoon shakes his head, “You’re usually a total wuss about this stuff, but this time I think you’re actually justified. Those things are terrifying.”

 

“You’re telling me. Wait- hey! I am not a total wuss. Just. Most of one.”

 

Jihoon snorts,“Need I play the footage from this morning?” He starts to reach into his pocket for his phone. Daniel stretches his arm across the table in an attempt to stop him, but he’s unsuccessful. Cackling, Jihoon plays keep away with the phone as he pulls it up.

 

“AAAAAAHHH-!” Daniel’s screams play from the speakers of the phone loud and clear. Daniel would bury his head in his arms if he wasn’t so busy stuffing his face. He opts to give Jihoon a dirty look instead.

 

“Stop tormenting him. Those things are really creepy,” Jisung comments, giving Jihoon a light smack. The youngest sticks his tongue out but puts his phone away nonetheless.

 

“You’re no fun,” He replies with a pout.

 

“Guys,” Daniel starts to swoon, “It’s today!”

 

“What’s today?” Jisung quirks an eyebrow.

 

“My study-date with Seongwoo!” Daniel smacks the table, “How could you forget?! This is important.”

 

“Sorry, guess I was just busy. You know, grading, school, work…”

 

Jihoon jokingly scoffs, “Uh, yeah. This is way more important, Jisung. Get your priorities straight.”

 

“ _Thank you_!” Daniel exclaims, “Someone gets it.” He takes out his phone and starts scrolling social media, checking for trending topics, “What do you think he’ll want to talk about?” He asks.

 

“Uh, what class do you have with him again?” Jihoon asks.

 

“Data structures.”

 

“Okay. He’ll probably want to talk about… Data structures. Because this is a study thing, remember?”

 

“Right. Right. Yeah, okay. Yeah. Lemme google the latest tech news.”

 

“Daniel, no- that’s not what I-”

 

Jisung shakes his head, “Let him be, Jihoon. Let him be.” Jihoon rolls his eyes and returns to blowing steam off of his noodles.

 

The trio eats in peace for a few minutes, idly making comments about their mornings, astronomical anomalies, and life. Jihoon mentions that he someone cut him in line and he nearly got in a fight about it for some reason. Jisung spent his morning grading.

 

 _Lunch time is truly the best time_ , Daniel thinks contentedly. Jisung mentions studies, prompting Daniel to remember something from the night before.

 

“Oh! Wait, Jihoon, how did it go?” He asks.

 

Jihoon tilts his head in confusion, “How did what go?”

 

“Your, uh, thing last night. With that guy. The silent guy.”

 

“Oh…” Jihoon’s mouth stretches out into a wide expression of distaste, “Him…”

 

Jisung smirks,“You know, I wasn’t really interested before, but now that you’ve expressed some sort of negative emotion, I am _very_ interested. Please, tell us more.” He clasps his hands in front of him on the table, eagerly awaiting an explanation.

 

Jihoon rolls his eyes, “That kid, he…” Jisung and Daniel lean in closer, “He…” They lean in even more closely, “He wouldn’t stop talking! Like a damn sparrow! He’s actually super smart, too. And- and- he likes hip-hop dancing and can rap and he’s a CSE student, too. He’s a scorpio and has a snaggle tooth and it’s like really, really cute when he smiles and he’s funny and surprisingly bright like- like a reverse charm and-”

 

“Wow, you’re, like, head over heels for this guy,” Jisung says in awe.

 

“I hate him,” Jihoon scowls at him. Of course, coming from Jihoon, a scowl looks more like an adorable little frown. Like the kind a kid would give you if you cut them off after their second ice cream cone.

 

“What?” Daniel and Jisung both say in unison.

 

“He’s terrible and I can’t wait for this project to be over,” Jihoon says with a huff, sucking at his noodles with new vigor.

 

“But- But you were just saying how cute he was…” Daniel looks at him, befuddled.

 

“ _Slrrrrrrp_!” Jihoon answers by slurping his noodles loudly.

 

“You know his sign,” Jisung points out.

  
“ _Slrrrrrrp_!”

 

“You’re insane!” A voice shouts.

  
“Wh- Hey! I am not,” Jihoon fires back angrily.

 

“Huh?” Jisung points to himself and his face scrunches into a look of bewilderment, “Are you talking to me?”

 

“Yeah! You said I was insane. Am not,” Jihoon crosses his arms indignantly.

 

“Wh- I didn’t say anything!”

 

“Did too! Admit it!”

 

“I did not.”

 

“Get a grip!” Another holler sounds out across the dining hall.

 

“No, _you_ get a grip!” Jisung huffs, standing up and pointing at Jihoon, “Your whole emotionally stunted tsundere act can be really tiresome sometimes, you now that?”

 

“Guys,” Daniel cuts in.

 

They ignore him.

 

“My what? I’m- I am not being a tsundere. My feelings are none of your business,” Jihoon stood up, clenching a fist.

 

“Guys!” Daniel stands up and holds his hands out between the two, “You guys aren’t saying that stuff. It’s coming from over there,” Daniel points in the distance to a growing commotion in the dining room. The trio look on as some sort of conflict starts brewing.

 

Though none of them are sure why, a group of girls are yelling at one another.

 

“You’re delusional!” “Spare me.” “Please, your intentions are as fake as your eyebrows!” “Get off!” “You get off.” “Let go of him.” “Let go of me!” “I’ll cut you!” “Get your own!” “Ow that’s my hair!” “Ow!” “I know where you live.” “In your dreams!”

 

“Oh yes… Yes, yes, yes, yes,” Jihoon mutters; the frown that had been on his lip switches to a massive grin.

 

“What the heck is going on over there?” Jisung asks. “It looks like trouble…”

 

Daniel shrugs, “I dunno. Uh-oh. It looks like more are are joining the fray.” True to his assumption, more girls join the flock, and they become louder because of it.

 

“Move.” “No, you move.” “Let go.” “You let go!” “How dare you!” “Are you braindead?!”

 

“Yes, yes, yes, yes…” Jihoon keeps mumbling, taking his phone out with a delirious smile. He opens the camera and zooms in on the chaos joyfully.

 

“Jihoon!” Jisung gasps, “You’re filming this?”

 

“Girl fight! Girl fight!” The youngest shouts.

 

“Jihoon! Wait!” Jisung protests. He walks in front of the youngest’s phone with a stern expression on his face. For an instant, it looks like he’s going to scold the boy, but his expression abruptly changes into a cute, pouty smile, “Get me in the shot!” He says, holding up a peace sign.

 

 _I’m friends with terrible people_ , Daniel laughs inwardly. The commotion is pretty funny at first. However, as time goes on, it gets more chaotic. Innocent bystanders are pulled in and tousled, and suddenly it’s not so funny anymore. Things get knocked over, and for some strange reason more girls step in.

 

“Whoa are they… Are they okay?” Jihoon asks, putting down his phone. The fact that he shows concern speaks to how grim the situation becomes.

 

In the middle of all of it, a tall body crops up. The poor thing looks lost and horrified. Daniel’s eyes widen when he recognizes his morning savior: Minhyun.

 

“Uh-oh,” He says.

 

“You don’t think…” Jisung scratches his chin.

 

“No,” Jihoon remarks, “They can’t… They aren’t fighting over _him_? Are they?”

 

“Hands off of him, he’s mine!” “No, he’s _mine_!” “He’s my prince!” “No, he’s my prince!!” “Find your own prince.” “I saw him first.” “An ugly girl like you doesn’t deserve him.” “He needs a smart girl like me.” “No, he wants someone artistic.” “ He clearly needs a responsible girl.”

 

“I think they are,” Daniel starts chewing on his bottom lip. Despite how terrifying the growing mass of girl rage was becoming, he couldn’t just stand by and do nothing. “I’m gonna try and rescue him.” He says, walking over to the mess.

 

“Wait! Daniel, no!” Jihoon calls after him, “Don’t mess with the fangirls! They don’t fear death!” Jisung smacks him lightly and rolls his eyes before turning to watch Daniel concernedly.

 

Given his stature, Daniel has a fairly easy time cutting into the crowd and reaching Minhyun. The University Prince seems at a complete and utter loss. Clearly he doesn’t want to hurt these girls or say anything mean. _Even in such a situation, he acts noble_ , Daniel thinks. He grabs Minhyun by the arm and starts dragging him out of the clump of crazed girls (and a couple of dudes).

 

“Thank you,” Minhyun whispers as the two slowly trudge between bodies.

 

Daniel gives him a warm smile in return,“Well, you rescued me this morning. It’s the least I could do. I- I think they’re too distracted to notice anyways.”

  
As if on cue, the mass of girls turn to look at the knight in shining armor. Upon seeing him walking away with _their_ prince’s arm hooked around him, they stare daggers.

 

“Where does he think he’s going?” “Does he really think he can make off with _my_ prince?!” “Who does he think he is?” “Isn’t that the screaming bug guy?” “How _dare_ he touch Minhyun like that!”

 

_Oh._

 

_Oh no._

 

Terror strikes Daniel as the gaggle of fangirls turns on him. Hands reach out for him, grabbing his limbs and yanking at his clothes. Try as he might, he ends up losing grip of Minhyun. The prince frowns, reaching out to try reconnecting with his savior. Unfortunately, the two are dragged far apart; girls resume tugging at Minhyun as if he’s a rag doll while others pull Daniel as far away as possible.

 

“Get your hands off of him you pervert!” “He’s ours. Ours!” “Ours? No he’s mine.” “He’s actually mine!”

 

 _What is this?!_ Daniel turns to plead his friends for help. Luckily, they don’t need much prompting and are already on their way before he asks. Jihoon cracks his knuckles as he approaches, and Jisung merely gives the mass of bodies a disappointed look. Jihoon starts systemically prying hands and arms off of Daniel while Jisung tries to peel bickering girls off of each other. The cacophonous din echoes off of the ceiling of the dining hall.

 

“This is a mess!” Jisung groans over the yelling and commotion.

 

“Man, Daniel, why’d you have to jump in? It would’ve been hilarious if you didn’t get involved!” Jihoon laments.

 

“Minhyun’s being assaulted over there! I can’t watch him get thrown around and do nothing! Thanks for freeing me though.”

 

“Ugh, such a drag. Being all chivalrous and stuff. Hey- Where’d Minhyun go, anyways? Do you think he’s being trampled right about now?”

 

It’s a good point and urges Daniel to look for the floundering prince once more. However, he appears to have another rescuer protecting him. Of all people, Jaehwan steps in. He immediately goes off on the crowd, hollering about how inappropriate their behavior is and how they were an embarrassment to their entire university. The lecture is surprisingly lacking in condescension and any of Jaehwan’s typical dramatic flair. He wags a disapproving finger at them with one hand while the other holds onto Minhyun’s tightly. The prince himself appears a bit dazed, but mostly relieved. He watches the eccentric musician’s ranting with awe, and Daniel worries that the prince had suffered brain damage during the scuffle.

 

“Now, leave this dining room and think about what you’ve done!” Jaehwan finishes his talking to, looking as stern as someone with puffy mandu chooks and droopy puppy eyes could. The crowd remains still for a second, they almost appear zombie-like, dazed. It unsettles Daniel to watch them.

 

Without warning, they all walk off. Not a single word is exchanged, not even any apologies. Everyone just goes their separate way, as if they hadn’t just mobbed a poor guy. Almost as quickly as it had collected, the crowd disperses, leaving the five guys standing there, more befuddled than before. Daniel notices, just out of the corner of his eye, a splotch of purplish black jumping off of a leaving girl’s shoulder and scuttling away. He cringes, but his mind moves on quickly, much more occupied with current affairs.

 

“Is everyone okay?” Minhyun is the first to address the group as everyone gathers around him. He glances at his hand, the one that still held Jaehwan’s, and quickly withdrew it. Pink tints his cheek, but he doesn’t acknowledge it, speaking more, “I’m- I’m very sorry about this commotion I seem to have caused.”

 

“Here, let’s sit down,” Jisung advises, gesturing to their table in the corner. The other four follow him, and everyone takes a seat, happy that things have calmed down.

 

“You definitely don’t need to apologize!” Jihoon insists once they all had sat down, “Like, unless you literally told a bunch of random chicks- and dudes- to get in a fight over you. In which case, you are my _hero_.” Jisung elbows the youngest in the ribs.

 

Despite how scary the situation had been, Minhyun chuckles, “I can’t say I did. I don’t suppose there’s some campus-wide prank that’s going on today, is there?”

 

Jisung looks up in thought,“Hm… Not that I recall.” Daniel and Jaehwan also shake their heads.

 

“That’s so weird…” Minhyun sighs tiredly, “Today has been such an off day.”

 

“I know what you mean,” Jihoon says, “Like, usually people are pretty chill when things go badly, but today it’s like everyone’s angry!” Minhyun’s face lights up and he nods in agreement.

 

 _Huh. I thought it was just me, too._ Daniel thinks.

 

“Wow, I thought I was just unlucky today!” Jisung adds, “The barista forgot to put the vanilla syrup in my coffee this morning. It’s totally no big deal, but when I pointed it out to her, she told me to ‘go back to sleep and starve’!”

 

“Yikes!” Jihoon snorts, “I bumped into someone between classes, and he told me to jump out the window. I just thought it was a nine AM thing to be honest.”

 

“Not to mention,” Minhyun comments, “All of those bugs running around. Maybe that’s why everyone is angry? They’re afraid of bugs!”

 

“All the students I saw this morning were so calm, though,” Daniel pursed his lips in thought. The day had truly been rather strange. He frowns internally. _Of all days for everything to be weird and bad, it has to be my date day with Seongwoo. Ugh!_

 

“Hm…” Minhyun looks up in thought, “I guess you’re right. Is it a standardized test week?”

 

Jisung shakes his head, “No. The national certification engineering test isn’t any time soon. Nor are any of the big medical or law tests, either. It’s the middle of the semester, maybe midterms?”

 

“If there were midterms, surely we’d know about it.”

 

As the other three chat about testing and theories as to why people are so pushy (“It’s lizard people!” Jihoon insists), Daniel can’t help but look at Jaehwan. He’d probably hit some kind of record for longest duration of time without speaking. It occurs to Daniel that he doesn’t really know much about the guy at all. He knows Jaehwan’s many eccentricities, but not much else.

 

 _What’s he thinking?_ He questions. _He actually looks kind of… Thoughtful when he’s next to Minhyun. Huh. And I guess he did cut in to save him, didn’t he? Maybe there’s more to Jaehwan than being an egomaniac._

 

The rest of lunch continues on amicably.  None of the people present had ever spoken much to Minhyun, but they’d come to learn that he’d gotten his Prince title for good reason. He’s bright, charming, and intelligent. The way he speaks makes is strangely captivating, and his laugh is surprisingly cute for someone who seems so stately. He even cracks a few jokes that compromise his princely image!

 

When everyone goes their separate ways for afternoon classes, Daniel feels like he’s learned a couple of things: Jaehwan has a good side that most people don’t know about, and Minhyun has a sillier side that many don’t see. He’s not sure what he’ll do with that information, but he feels enriched for having it anyways. The student eagerly walks toward the engineering building for his afternoon classes, counting the ticking minutes until his study date with Seongwoo.

 

* * *

 

_I wonder where Peter and Rooney are?_

 

Daniel finds himself zoning out yet again in afternoon classes. It’s not that he’s not listening per se, it’s just that listening provides diminishing returns after about forty-five minutes. Eventually, words start mixing and melding together, and nothing makes sense anymore. He glances at his phone.

 

“3:41” The clock reads in clear, white letters.

 

_Ugh. This class is never going to end… At least my cats haven’t bothered me since this morning. What the heck did they want anyway?_

 

The professor’s voice interrupts his thinking, “How many of you did the extracurricular questions for today?” He asks.

 

Silence.

 

 _Woops_ . Daniel remembers very clearly opening his textbook to the page that the questions were on. Then things went black. Literally. He fell asleep. _They’re just extra. No big deal, right?_

 

The professor crosses his arms and speaks bitterly, “I see. Sorry, I thought that your education would be a priority, but apparently none of you seem to agree. I suppose you think I assign those for my health?”

 

_Calm down, dude. You said it yourself: they’re extracurricular!_

 

“Well, I see how it is. In that case, I will no longer be assigning extracurricular questions-”

 

_Well, thank God._

 

“-I will add the bonus questions to the homework from now on to be counted regularly.”

 

_That’s not what I wanted at all!_

 

The entire class moans and groans in protest, but the professor remains resolute. He goes on about how everyone should have taken their homework more seriously until the very minute class ends.

 

 _I’m glad that’s over_ , Daniel thinks.

  
_Wait, it’s over. It’s over! That means I’ve got…_ He looks at his phone again. _Approximately three hours until I get to see Seongwoo. Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god, oh my god!_

 

The student practically sprints to the university’s gym that houses the dance studios. Even though it makes no sense, he likes to believe that moving fast will make time go by fast. He gets there in no more than ten minutes and rushes to swipe in with the receptionist, jogging in place as he waits. When she finally hands him back his student ID, he utters a quick “thanks” before running to the bottom floor to the studio.

 

“Yo, ‘sup man!” A casual voice greets Daniel when he crosses the threshold into the mirrored room. It belongs to none other than Noh Taehyun, one of his seniors in the club. Him and a couple of other club members sit on the floor, helping one another stretch before practice.

 

“Afternoon, dude,” Another senior greets him.

 

Ha Sungwoon: twenty-four, fourth year film production major, looks like a butterfly but stings like wasp.

 

“Sup Taehyun, Sungwoon,” Daniel throws up a peace sign before dumping his bookbag in a corner on the ground. He joins the other two on the floor and starts stretching. “Hey guys, I can’t stay late,” He mentions, “I have something to do after this. I’m gonna have to run at six.”

 

“Why?” Sungwoon teases, “Got a hot date?”

 

Daniel can hardly suppress the smile that tips at the ends of his lips, “Maybe.”

 

“ _Ooooh_!” Sungwoon and Taehyun holler in unison.

 

“Get it, Daniel!” Sungwoon laughs.

 

“Damn, who’s the lucky one? Do we know them?” Taehyun asks.

 

Daniel shrugs, “Probably not. He’s-” He starts to say TA but stops himself. It’s stupid (in his opinion) but he doesn’t want to start some sort of scandal, “-from my major. A year above me, though.”

 

Taehyun wiggles his eyebrows,“Ooooh, into older men? Interesting. Sungwoon did you know Daniel’s into older men?”

  
“Why the heck would I know?” Sungwoon titters. “What does it matter, anyways?”

 

“I mean, I’m just saying- it’s kinda weird. Full offense, Daniel you’re like the largest child I know.”

 

Daniel snorts, he’s used to the affectionate abuse at the hand of his seniors, “Hey!” He pretends to be offended, dropping his jaw as if mortified.

 

“Children come in all ages and sizes,” Sungwoon smirks, “Just look at you. You’re older than him and still a child.”

 

“Like you’re a bastion of maturity!” Taehyun kicks Sungwoon jokingly, “I just think it’s funny- like, are you going on a date or are you getting babysat?”

 

“Taehyun, let him live,” Sungwoon rolls his eyes (though he still smiles).

 

“Wait- No, I get it now,” Taehyun claps his hands in realization, “It’s a daddy thing. You want a distinguished, older man to be your daddy.” He sticks his tongue out crudely.

 

“Taehyun!” Sungwoon takes a turn to kick the other senior back, “Don’t mind him Daniel. He’s just at an eleven today. Probably got knocked in the head by a chunk of that meteor from last night. I, for one, support your pursuit to get a sugar daddy.” He gives a sickeningly sweet smile facetiously.

 

Taehyun gives Sungwoon a confounded expression,“Meteor? What the heck are you talking about?!”

 

Daniel hollers,“Wh- Both of you, I am not looking for a daddy!” The others just laugh.

 

The two seniors continue to tease him more as other arrive. Other members file in one by one, and eventually practice starts.

 

 _Finally, something seems to be going right_ , Daniel thinks during a break.

 

_No talking cats, no massive bugs, no fights or angry people. At least b-boy is the same!_

 

* * *

 

“Bye guys!” Daniel waves to the other members of his b-boy club as he runs out the door. He doesn’t bother turning around to hear their farewells. He rushes to the nearest locker room to shower and beautify himself for his big date. Sure, it’s not objectively glamorous, but after the strange day he’s had, he feels determined to make it as perfect as possible.

 

He gets out of the shower and notices a new text notification. Heart nearly leaves his body when he sees the sender.

 

“Seongwoo: Still on for 7 at the library?”

 

 _Of course, I’m still on. I am more than on. I’m so on. Nobody is more on than me right now._ Daniel does a happy dance for a few seconds before typing a reply:

 

“Yeah! I’ll see you then. In front of the statue, right?”

 

He’s about to put his phone back down, but he sees the “...” in the messenger window indicating a response is being typed. In real time. By Seongwoo. His inner self screeches with joy.

 

“Yup! Awesome, see you in a bit :D”

 

_Oh my god, big smiley face. Big smiley face? What does that mean? What does that mean!?_

 

Daniel wants to frantically ask his groupchat for guidance, but he doesn’t have time. He throws on the outfit he’d packed and heads out. Realistically, forty-five minutes is ample time for any normal person to get to the meeting spot for a date, but Daniel wasn’t about to take chances. It wasn’t as if he’d planned to arrive forty-five minutes early, he’d just planned to be _in the area_ forty-five minutes early. That way, by his logic, he could walk in just about on time without looking over eager while also not being late.

 

The student starts walking, his stomach knotting and unknotting itself hectically as he got closer and closer to the east part of campus. The sun had started sinking into the sky, and a mix of pinks and oranges fill the sky because of it.

 

 _Pretty…_ Daniel stops in his tracks. He’d already reached the courtyard, and the library was less than a three minute walk from where stood. He opts to stop and smell the roses for a bit, taking a seat on a nearby bench.

 

 _Man, today was really weird._ The day’s events run through his head like a film reel. _I guess it’s all okay, now. I hope everyone else’s day improved, too. Poor Minhyun getting assaulted. Jisung getting told to starve!_ He chuckles to himself.

 

 _Everyone is alright now. All that matters is that I’m totally gonna nail this one on one time with Seongwoo. No stuffy office, no line of students behind me waiting for his time. Just me and him! And books! Lots of books!_ He psyches himself up, clenching a fist and looking to the sky.

 

Suddenly, a curtain of embarrassment falls over him when he realizes that his face is expressing his every thought. He glances around and hopes nobody saw him. The last thing he needs is to be featured on someone’s feed. Twice. Thankfully, nobody is there. Nobody but a single person, that is.

 

Daniel doesn’t pay it much mind at first, but he gives them a second look, realizing he recognizes them. It’s his professor from earlier, the one who decided to add extra questions to their homework. He raises an eyebrow.

 

_What’s he doing on campus at this time? Does he have late classes? That’s weird, normally engineering classes don’t go past like five… Maybe he’s going home now._

 

Daniel watches to see if his theory is true, but the man doesn’t move. At all. It’s pretty disconcerting, in the student’s opinion. There stands a professor, statue still, in the middle of the courtyard. The student can’t tear his eyes away; he watches, waiting for the man to move. For something, anything to happen. But… Nothing. He just. Stands there.

 

_What the heck is going on with him? Is he okay?!_

 

He gets off of the bench and starts walking toward the man. Possibilities start popping up in his mind: he could have fallen asleep, maybe he’s hurt, did he have a stroke?

 

“Professor?” Daniel asks in a soft voice. The man had seemed upset before, and he definitely didn’t want to make him more upset. As he approaches, he starts hearing something, like a low hum. The closer he gets, the more distinct the noise becomes. It’s not just some strange hum or buzz, it’s the professor. He’s not vibrating or giving of some strange frequency; he’s muttering to himself in a hurried tone.

 

“They’re all the same, all of them. Nobody cares, nobody cares one bit. I’m a sham, my life is a sham. Nobody cares about me at all. They don’t think about the professor, they don’t think about my feelings. My wife doesn’t care either. She thinks I’m married to my work but what’s the point? What’s the…”

 

Daniel’s eyes widen and his face contorts into an expression of terror.

 

_Oh, God. He’s having a breakdown. Can I deal with this? Do I have it in me to deal with this today?_

 

“My wife doesn’t love me like I used to. My kids don’t care. My students don’t care. Faculty pushes me around. I still can’t get tenure. I’m not happy. I’m not happy. I’m not happy…”

 

“P-professor?” Daniel says, only a few strides away. His eyes blow open and he nearly jumps ten feet into the sky when he sees a painfully familiar black form on the man’s shoulder.

 

 _Why must those bugs insist on plaguing me?! What did I do to them?_ He shrinks back in fear, but still tries communicating with the rambling man.

 

“Professor,” Daniel speaks more loudly, “There’s um, there’s a- a-”

 

“I’m not happy. I’m. Not. Happy. I’mnothappyI’mnothappyI’mnothappyI’mnothappy-” The terrifying, crawly creature scuffles its way up the professor’s neck before dropping down beneath his collar. A look of sheer horror overtakes Daniel’s face.

 

He stretches out his hand to get his attention and yells,“Professor there’s a bug!”

 

“I’MNOTHAPPYI’MNOTHAPPYI’MNOTHAPPYI’MNOTHAPPY” The professor’s body starts convulsing violently and his eyes roll back into his head. Daniel puts a hand in his pocket, ready to dial the emergency number. The entire ordeal is intensely disturbing, and it’s something he knows he won’t soon forget.

 

Suddenly, the older man stops. Everything just. Stops. The wind stops blowing, the man stops shaking, and for a second Daniel wonders if time itself stops, too. A voice comes out of the professor, but it’s different than before: deeper, inhuman.

 

“If I’m not happy,” It croaks, “Then nobody can be.”

 

The professor’s body suddenly begins to swell. Black begins seeping into his skin tone, as if he’d been submerged in ink. His limbs shoot and jerk about as if he’s being manipulated like a ragdoll. He opens his mouth and starts to scream, a terrible, howling screech. It sounds more like an amalgamation of hundreds of suffering people than a single person’s voice. The bloated mass of bouncing, inky, black flesh slowly rises to an upright position. Massive appendages suddenly shoot out of it’s back, eliciting another tormented howl.

 

Daniel gags at the sight, watching the things coming out of the man’s back grow and grow. As they expand, he supposes that they’re supposed to be like wings. Or legs. He’s not positive. From each long, veiny limb juts out half a dozen more in haphazard directions. It almost looks like the devil had started to cook a demon but took it out of the oven halfway through. It looked dilapidated and mushy, like it’s liable to melt into a soup of dark, dissolved flesh at any second. Raggedy, jaw-like pincers jut out of where Daniel thinks the professor’s face would be. Out of them crop dozens of jagged teeth.

 

 _Please be a dream,_ Daniel covers his mouth, working hard to suppress the nausea consuming him, _Please be a dream, please be a dream._

 

The “professor”, if it could even be called that anymore, beats its massive wing like appendages. A gust of wind blows across the courtyard, and the creature rises off the ground. Suddenly, another appendage of sorts shoots out of the black mass. Daniel’s head darts around frantically to follow it; His jaw drops and he looks on in dread as he sees where the tentacle-like limb goes. The long, winding tentacle shoots toward a student.

 

“Watch out!” Daniel yells, jumping in the direction of the innocent walker.

 

It’s too late.

 

She’s done for the second the tentacle gets near her. The black limb latches onto the girl’s face. There is no resistance, no chance to react, not even a scream of pain. Her body simply goes limp. Inky blackness consumers her, and soon she is nothing more than an extension of the creature’s limb.

 

Daniel looks at the horror once more, and, as far as he can tell, it looks back. He wants to save everyone, wants to warn people, to send an SOS in his groupchat, but he can’t bring himself to. One thought and one thought only prevails in his mind: survival. Using his long legs to his advantage, he sprints with long strides to the nearest building.

 

In the distance, he can hear a few screams, and his heart sinks. As much as he wishes he could help, he knows he can’t. He blinks the tears out of his eyes as he runs, nearly crashing into the door of the nearest building he could reach. When he finally gets to shelter, he collapses on the ground. The building he’d ended up in, one of the arts buildings, has large windows spanning the lobby. They give him a panoramic view of the chaos ensuing outside.

 

The soft orange and pink hues of the evening sky had given way to a sickly gray tone. It looks like the sky and earth itself feel ill in the presence of that thing. Daniel sniffles, shakily taking out his phone to dial the emergency number.

 

_Today was supposed to be perfect. I didn’t ask for much. I just wanted to have a good night with Seongwoo, that’s all._

 

Suddenly, an unfathomable weight falls on his shoulders.

 

_Seongwoo…_

 

_What if he’s not okay? Oh, God. It’ll be all my fault! He’d probably be relaxing at home if I didn’t drag him out to the library at this time._

 

Fat teardrops fall on the student’s phone screen, warping the picture and numbers displayed.

 

“Hey, you!” A winded voice calls out. Daniel jumps back in surprise. His eyes and jaw open wide when he sees who’d called out to him: it’s Peter and Rooney.

 

“You’re really annoying, you know that!” Peter shouts at him. Daniel is at a loss for words.

 

“Still think you’re dreaming?” Rooney asks, turning toward the window. Daniel’s gaze follows, looking at the courtyard-turned-hellscape. The creature had somehow gotten bigger (probably from consuming students, if Daniel had to guess), and it continued to terrorize students. More screams of agony sound out through the muffled glass, and he watches as people who attempt to run are dragged away.

 

Daniel wipes his tears and turns to his cats. His _talking_ cats. Their newfound ability to speak gets knocked down a few ranks on the list of “weirdest thing to happen today”.

 

The student nods, “I’m ready to talk.”

 

The two cats turn to one another and exchange serious expressions. They nod, and Peter starts to speak:

 

“We clearly don’t have much time, but- oh gosh, where to start…”

 

Daniel responds,“Maybe start with whether or not you know what the heck that-” He points out the window, “-thing is.”

 

“Right, okay,” The calico says, “So that thing right there-” She points a paw to the window, “-that’s what we call in our world, an Anti.”

 

“A what? From- from the cat world?”

 

Peter sighs, “I- No, we are not from the cat world. I am sorry to inform you, but we are merely… Well you can think of us as spirits, I guess, that are cohabitating these forms with your cats.”

 

“You mean… You mean my cats can’t even talk?!” Daniel frowns, “This is the worst day of my life!”

 

“Focus, Daniel!” Peter shouts in an impatient tone, “Priorities!” She waves her paw at the glass again, “Look- that- that all can be explained in further detail later. Here’s what can help you- and everyone- right now.

 

Those things? Antis. Bad. We don’t like Antis, and they don’t like us. They’re basically like a virus, a hivemind of sorts. They live to consume. They feed off of negative energy to sustain themselves. That’s why they latched onto that professor: he was giving off some major bad vibes. You know those bugs you were screaming about earlier?”

 

“Wh- You saw that?”

 

“Everyone saw that,” Rooney interjects.

 

_I really, truly hope I wake up any second now._

 

Peter continues, “Yes, those ones. Those are what Antis look like in their larval stage, you could say. However, if you feed one enough- with enough negative energy, it can turn into-” She looks outside, “-this.” Daniel’s gaze follows the cat, and he stares at the sheer mayhem. He chokes up again just thinking about the possibility of Seongwoo being out there. Being consumed.

 

The cat moves on with her explanation,“When they’ve fed enough, they can physically manifest with the help of a host. That’s what they do. They consume and destroy. They ravaged their home world, they ravaged our world, and now they’ve chosen earth as their newest dwelling.”

 

“Okay, let’s- let’s say that I’m not dreaming.”

 

“You’re not!” Both the cats say simultaneously.

 

“Right, right, okay. I’m not dreaming. I’m just… Living a nightmare,” Daniel nibbles on his bottom lip, “I get that this- this all is terrifying, but- but what’s that got to do with me?” The screams and cries of those outside grow louder by the second.

 

Rooney hops forward and drops something small into Daniel’s lap. He blinks puzzledly and looks at the object. It feels warm. Gingerly, he picks the small trinket up. Inspecting it closely, he sees that it’s a dangling earring. A couple of chains of varying lengths hang beside a charm that looks like the number one.

 

Not just the number one, _the_ number one.

 

The number one that he’d seen in his dream.

 

He gasps.

 

Suddenly, the warmth that the earring emits feels familiar. It hails back to that dream he’d had just the morning before. The warmth wraps around him, it encapsulates him with a feeling of comfort, of safety.

 

“Look familiar?” Rooney asks. Daniel dazedly nods; he’s mystified by the earring. “Good, that means our message got to you.”

 

Peter speaks sincerely, “Kang Daniel, you have been chosen by our God, Napros, to be a Wanna Knight! You are to be a defender of all that is good and pure in this world, and you are the only thing that can stop the Antis from taking over this world!”

 

“Wh-wh-what?!” Daniel’s mouth flutters open and closed, “I- I- I- This is like a TV show. I- I can’t do this. No way! How the heck am I supposed to stop-” He gestures outdoors, “-stop that?! I can’t even wake up in the morning! There’s no way I will ever, ever be a- a- Wanna Kni-”

 

“ _Craaaash_!”

 

A long, veiny tentacle wrecks the glass of the building. Daniel screams in terror, clumsily stumbling onto his feet. He doesn’t think, he just runs as fast as his feet will possibly take him. He dashes out of the building, his cats in tow, and the malicious limb gives chase. The Anti’s limb shoots just in front of Daniel’s path, but he quickly dips to the right, watching the mass of inky blackness crash into the earth. The Anti floats in front of the library, and it nearly matches the building in size. Daniel’s throat goes dry and his heart races with anxiety at the sight. All he can think to do is continue running.

 

The Anti pursues him again, but Daniel stops just as he’s about to run into its trajectory. He thinks he’s in the clear, but a distressed cry informs him otherwise. He turns to see what had happened, and his chest hollows at the sight.

 

“Peter!” He yells, running to the tiny creature. He’d hardly paid any mind to the cats running by his side, and he didn’t notice that she’d gotten clipped by a tentacle. Tears welling up in his eyes afresh, Daniel drops to his knees and cradles his beloved pet. Even possessed by some weird alien spirit, Peter is still his baby, and seeing her hurt devastates him.

 

“Peter!” Rooney rushes to their side.

 

“Mn…” The calico groans, “Ru...n…” She curls up in Daniel’s arms. “It’ll… Get you… too…” She winces in pain.

 

Daniel looks up slowly. All he sees above him is black. Pure, dark, inky black. Tears drop down his cheeks. The tentacle draws back, readying its final strike. Daniel does the only thing he can do: he hugs Peter and Rooney closely into his chest, squeezing them for what would be the last few seconds of their lives.

 

 _Why…_ He laments.

  
_Why did it have to be like this?_

 

_Today was gonna be perfect._

 

_Today was gonna be the best._

 

_Today I was gonna tell Seongwoo how I felt…_

 

The tentacle comes hurtling down. Daniel squeezes his eyes shut and braces himself for unspeakable pain.

 

“ _Skkreeeeaaaaahhhhhh_!!!” A hellish wail fills Daniel’s ears.

 

The student blinks his eyes open perplexedly and turns around. Where’d once seen a veiny, dark limb, he now sees a withered stub. The Anti flexes its tentacle again and strikes. This time Daniel watches. His mouth drops open in awe as he sees the limb stop before reaching him. It hits some sort of field, burning on contact. The Anti screams again in pain as more of its flesh is disintegrated.

 

Out of the corner of his eye, Daniel notices a glimmer. A prismatic white light emits from his lap. Squinting his eyes, he realizes: his earring is glowing. He doesn’t have time to think about it before Rooney yells at him:

 

“Daniel, put it on! Now!”

 

Nightmare or not, Daniel decides to obey. He takes out the cross earring he’d been wearing before, replacing it with the glowing one earring. A strange sensation surges through his body as he slots the thing in his ear. He feels lighter and stronger at the same time.

 

“What now?” He asks the cat.

 

“Repeat after me!” Rooney instructs. She sits on her back legs and uses one of her paws to pat the opposite shoulder, she then sticks that paw out in front of her and flips it up, “Do that motion and say: All I wanna do! Wanna One!”

 

“What?!” Daniel asks. “But- but- why?!”

 

“Do you want to save the university or not?! Also when you flip your hand up, stick your index finger up. I’d have demonstrated it, but… I’m a cat.”

 

“Uh, o-okay. Fine, I guess.” He’d abandoned any reservations about being weird or ridiculous around the time the tentacle broke through the glass in the arts building. Even though he feels immensely silly, he repeats Rooney’s motion. He pats a fist against the opposite shoulder then sticks it out, flashing an index finger. In as triumphant a voice he can muster, he shouts: “All I wanna do! Wanna One!”

 

His earring illuminates his vision, and suddenly he’s blinded by iridescence. Some unknown force lifts his body into the air and wraps him in the prismatic light. He doesn’t really know what’s going on, but he feels strangely secure nonetheless.

 

The light guides his limbs, and he starts to notice changes. His clothes are gone, something that, in the moment, feels completely fine. He feels at ease as the light dresses him. White gauntlets with geometric engravings clamp themselves around his wrists, each one topped with a peach pink gem. Warmth wraps around his upper torso, draping a white mandarin collared top on top of him. The draped top tightens until it perfectly fits the contours of his body, a slim pink line drawing itself down the middle. A white-silver pauldron tops one of his shoulders, faceted with complimentary pink gems, and from it a white cape cascades downward.

 

Next, his legs are sheathed in brightness that proceeds to materialize into white pants. Belts with glistening silver fastenings clasp around his thighs and calves. Peachy pink boots coalesce around his feet, as a strange warmth through his hair and over his face. A peachy belt holding a long sword case wraps around his waist, and finally, a pearlescent pink longsword sheaths itself in the scabbard.

 

“Wh… What… What just happened?” Daniel asks as he drifts slowly back to the ground. He looks down at himself, startled by, well, everything. “What the… What the heck am I wearing?! Is this a crop top?” He unsheathes his sword to look at his reflection, “Wha- Whaaaaaaa?!” He screams. “M-my hair is silver, my eyes are blue?! What’s going on-”

 

“You can rant about your new outfit later!” Rooney yells at him, “Right now I think you’ve got other things to worry about!”

 

“O-oh, right. Right!” Daniel clenches a determined fist and turns to the looming horror floating in the distance. “Wait, uh… What do I do?”

 

Rooney scolds him, “You are literally holding a giant sword!”

 

“Well you don’t have to be rude- Whoa!”

 

“ _Smaaash_!”

 

A giant tentacle comes crashing down to the ground just in front of Daniel. Luckily, with his quick reflexes, he dodges on time. However, he wasn’t quite prepared for how effectively he dodged.

 

“What- what the heck?!” He screams. Looking down, he can see half of campus from where he’d ended up in the sky. Rooney looked even smaller than the smallest ant he’d seen, and the Anti looked no bigger than a fist. Regardless of his new strength, gravity still works pretty much the same, and he comes falling to the ground quickly. “Aaaaaaaaaaaaah!” He covers his face and squeezes his eyes shut.

 

“ _Crash_!!”

 

The ground craters beneath him as he makes contact. He feels fine.

 

“O-oh.” His jaw drops as he inspects the deep impression he’d made in the Earth. “I can do that now, I guess.”

 

“Hey, I’m like, super proud of you-” Rooney shouts from a distance, “-but can you, like focus right now!?”

 

“Right. Giant monster. Sword. Sword! Got it!” He hollers back. Taking a deep breath, he beckons, “Heeeere Anti, Anti, Anti. Come here you big, disgusting, ugly thing.” The monster seems to notice him and it turns what he assumes is its face in his direction. Daniel smirks, “That’s right…” A tentacle shoots out of its side and races toward him, “I’m talking to you.” He clasps the longsword in both hands, hoping his days of reading manga haven’t been for naught.

 

Daniel takes a running start to meet the tentacle, and the Anti draws it back like a cobra. When the monstrous creature moves to strike, that’s when Daniel strikes back. He swings his sword with as much force as he can muster and slices clean through the appendage. Sickly, purplish goo seeps out of the newly sliced limb, and for a second Daniel thinks he’s gonna be sick. Regardless, he counts the skirmish as a success.

 

“That all you got?” He asks the creature rhetorically. The Anti seems agitated, at least, as agitated as a horrific otherworldly beast can seem. It grows another tentacle to compensate for its loss and goes after the knight again. This time, Daniel’s more prepared, and strikes preemptively.

 

“ _Skreeeeahhhhhh_!!” The Anti screams out in pain. Despite Daniel’s success in dismembering it, overall the results are lackluster.

 

“Hey Rooney,” He yells as he rapidly dodges tentacles left and right, “I think I’m only slowing this thing down. How the heck to I stop it?”

 

“You need to purify it! I don’t know if you have enough power yet, though-”

 

“Enough power?!” (“Craaash!!” The sound of splintering trees and crumbling earth echo out beside him) “What do you mean by that?!”

 

“You need to- to gather strength. Resolve. Think of like- How moms lift cars if their kids are stuck or something.”

 

Daniel weaves between two charging tentacles and scoffs,“What?! I’ve got all the power I need, I just have to-”

 

“ _Smash_!”

 

“Aaaah!” Daniel screams out in pain as a tentacle nails him head on. He comes colliding with the ground at high speed. The limb latches onto his face, but he manages to get a grip on his sword, slicing it of in the knick of time. Coughing, Daniel hunches over to collect himself.

 

“Daniel!” The knight sees a tiny cat’s body dash toward him, “Are you okay!”

 

“Wh…” He’s still a bit dazed, but he tries to collect himself, “I’m… I’m fine, I guess. Look- Rooney, I don’t know if I can do this. I don’t know if-”

 

“ _Bong! Bong! Bong!_ ”

 

“Wha-” Daniel wipes the dirt off his face. His eyes drift to the source of the sound, the clock tower that tops off the library. When his tear blurred vision clears, he squints his eyes to read the hands of the old-fashioned clock face. “Six forty-five… He thinks aloud.”

 

Suddenly, he comprehends what that means.

 

“Six forty-five…” He mumbles again.

 

“A-are you okay?” Rooney asks. She turns around to see another two tentacles shifting into position for another attack, “Daniel-” She paws at his leg.

 

“Six… It’s s-six forty-five,” The knight rambles.

 

“Daniel.”

 

“Quarter to seven…”

 

“Daniel!” Rooney hollers, “We’ve got bigger problems than the time right now!”

 

Daniel clenches his fists. He turns to look the tentacles and the Anti straight on. He slowly marches straight toward the epicenter of the thing, the disgusting horned face of the beast. Tentacles blast toward him left and right, but he thoughtlessly slashes them one by one. Unparalleled fury paints itself on his face and he advances forward. His earring once again glows with a blinding light, causing Rooney’s jaw to drop.

 

“No way…” She mutters before running to catch up with him.

 

“Hey you!” Daniel bellows at the Anti, “Yeah, you!” It rotates its body ever so slightly and starts floating toward him.

 

“ _Skkkrrreeeeeeeeaaaaaaaahhhhhhh_!!”

 

“No, you listen to me!” He demands, “Do you know what time it is? Huh?” (Rooney looks on in confusion, “What the heck is he on about? Oh boy, he might’ve hit his head…”)

 

“ _Skreaaahhh_!” Four new dripping, seizing limbs jut out of the wretched form, each one coiling into position to strike him at once. Daniel grips his sword tightly.

 

“Who said you could come barge into my world? You come in here, acting like you own the place, taking the form of disgusting bugs! You make people act crazy and attack my friends. You possess a guy who’s having a hard time, taking advantage of him and now… And now… Because of you, I’m gonna be late to see Seongwoo!”

 

The light coming from his earring his white hot and blinding.

 

Rooney yells, “Wait! Daniel! Daniel!”

 

“What- I’m _busy_ right now!” He shrills back, not taking his eyes off the Anti.

 

“No- Daniel, I know how you can beat this thing!”

 

“I’m listening.”

 

“Lift your sword up and yell, ‘Energetic Blade’!”

 

“What?!”

 

“Shut up and do it! Unless you wanna explain to the TA you’ve been crushing on why you’re late!”

 

“Wh- You know about Seongwoo?!”

 

“ _Everyone_ knows about Seongwoo! That’s a moot point, though. Seongwoo will cease to exist if you don’t kill this thing!”

 

“Everyone?”

 

“You like literally all of his posts on insta- WE ARE NOT TALKING ABOUT THIS RIGHT NOW JUST DO IT!”

 

“OKAY FINE, BUT YOU’RE GONNA EXPLAIN THIS TO ME LATER!”

 

“Energetic Slash, Daniel!”

 

“Right, right.” Daniel nods. He holds up his sword, and it begins radiating blazing light. The Anti’s four coiled limbs snap, all attacking at once. “Energetic-” Daniel jumps, lifting the sword high above his head, “Slash!” He brings the sword down. As the sword moves downward, the light surrounding it swells, the sword grows to ten times its length, and the hot light sparks around it. Daniel angles the sword and plunges it directly in the middle of the Anti’s two hideous claws.

 

Suddenly, soft light starts coming through the beast’s skin. It grows brighter and brighter and brighter until it becomes blinding. The Anti explodes, the sound of crackling thunder combining with a last, miserable screech. White light consumes everything, and soon even Daniel’s consciousness fades.

 

* * *

 

“Mn…” Daniel sits up on a bench in the courtyard. He feels a weight on his chest and quickly realizes what it is when he comes face to face with Rooney. “Wh- What? What? What happened? Did I pass out? Was that a dream?!”

 

Rooney pats him on the nose, “No, that was not a dream. Yes, you did just kick Anti butt!” She purrs. Another familiar cat approaches the bench, standing on her hind legs to get a better view.

 

“You did it!”

 

Daniel’s head snaps around. Everything looks totally normal. The sky is purplish pink, the buildings are all intact, and none of the people present are screaming for their lives.

 

“Wha… Are you sure that wasn’t all just a dream-” A paw to the face cuts his thought off.

 

“Does this feel like a dream to you mister?” Rooney asks, smacking him repeatedly with her paw.

 

“Okay, okay okay! It’s just- Everything was all like- scorched earth a second ago!”

 

Peter sighs, “We have… A lot of explaining to do. Look, just don’t worry about all that. For now, all you need to know is that everything is okay, and everyone who got sucked up into that thing have basically had their memories wiped. They wake up much like you, thinking it’s a dream.”

 

“Oh… Okay…” Daniel studies himself, “And I… The clothes,” He’s back to normal, leather jacket and yellow shirt, black hair and brown eyes.

 

“Your knight’s garb are stored in the earring. They’re only to be taken out when necessary. I mean- I imagine you’re not trying to walk around looking like a cosplayer, are you?”

 

“Right… So, wait- If anyone remembers seeing me or anything they’ll just… Think it’s a dream?”

 

“That’s really not important right now,” Rooney cuts in, “Maybe if you’re at it for an hour they’ll remember you better. God forbid someone get footage or anything, but- That’s not really a big deal. Okay?”

 

“ _Bong! Bong! Bong! Bong! Bong! Bong! Bong!_ ”

 

Daniel reels back in shock, his eyes flit to the clock face on top of the library.

 

“It’s seven!” He jumps up, scarcely giving the cats any time to react, “Sorry! Gotta go, love you, bye!” He scoops up his bookbag and breaks out into a sprint toward the library.

 

“Oh- Welp, there he goes,” Rooney sighs.

 

Peter chuckles, “Nothing was stopping him from his date with Seongwoo, huh?”

 

“Guess not. Think we should follow him?”

 

“Does he need our help?” Peter tilts her head in inquiry.

 

“No, but I think it’d be kind of hilarious to watch him awkwardly bumble through this.”

 

“Stop!” Peter laughs, “Let’s leave him be for now.”

 

“Fine. No fun,” Rooney pouts.

 

“If he finds us snooping around the library he’ll never give us wet food again!”

 

“Fair point, fair point,” The ginger cat concedes.

 

“Speaking of food… I’m starving! Wanna look cute outside restaurants and see if they throw us scraps?”

 

“Now you’re speaking my language!” Rooney laughs. The two purr happily as they search for the perfect target for their debauchery.

 

* * *

 

Daniel doubles over, huffing. He leans on the statue for support before speaking.

 

“S-Seongwoo. I am so, so, so, so sorry I’m late,” He bows, “I know you took time out of your personal life to be here and-”

 

“Whoa, whoa. Catch your breath a little, okay?” Seongwoo replies. Daniel takes the TA’s advice, taking his break time to give his crush a good look. He looks adorable, as usual; glasses perched on his nose, he pulls his giant black cardigan closer. His black skinny jeans fit his slender figure flawlessly, and he manages to make even a simple white button down look like it was made for him and only him.

 

 _No offense but I’m, like, madly in love with you._ Daniel thinks before speaking again.

 

“Okay, but… I really am sorry,” He frowns, “I… I really wanted to be on time.” Blush stings his cheeks and ears.

 

“You are…” Seongwoo looks at his phone, “Two minutes late. Don’t worry about it. Come on, let’s go.” He starts walking, leading the way inwards. The two climb a few flights of stairs, exploring the third floor until they find a cozy, unoccupied corner with a big table. The two chit chat as they spread the stuff out and settle in. Daniel can’t help but wonder if the events just earlier that evening had truly been erased.

 

“Hey, this might sound strange,” The student says as he unpacks his laptop, “But did you like see anything weird recently?” He bites his lip in anticipation.

 

“Weird? Weird…” Seongwoo strokes his chin, “Hm…” Daniel’s shoulders sag in relief. “Wait- Actually, I did!” The student immediately tenses again.

 

“O-o-oh? Did you? Ha ha, l-like what?” Daniel asks. _Smooth. Totally smooth. You don’t sound like a wreck right now._

 

“Yeah, it was really weird-”  


_Oh, no, here it comes._

 

“-it was um-”

 

_A freakish cosplayer? An eldritch horror? Talking cats?!_

 

“-last night! I saw like… Like a meteor or something. I dunno. It was super bright and falling from the sky. The light totally blinded me, but… Then it was gone. To be honest I thought I was, like, going blind or something. But, when I looked it up, I didn’t find anything,” The TA frowns slightly, “I was wondering if I was just crazy…”

 

“No!” Daniel exclaims a little more intensely than he’d intended, “No,” He says again more softly, “I- I saw it, too. That’s- that is definitely. Exactly what I was talking about. Yeah.” He nods.

 

“Y-you mean it? Or are you just trying to make me feel better?”

 

“No, I mean it! It was around eight o’ clock, right? And it was like, a super white light- no other color. It like filled the whooole room I was in,” He makes a big motion with his hands to punctuate it.

 

“Yeah! But then it was totally gone!”

 

“It was so crazy, I know! I can’t believe no news source covered it!”

 

“Me too! Ugh, I’m so glad someone else saw it. I really thought I was going insane.”

 

“Nah. My friends saw it, too. He talked about it in our groupchat. They argued about whether or not it was some government coverup.”

 

Seongwoo chuckles, “Who knows.”

 

“Yeah,” Daniel can’t help but laugh, too. The two laugh together, and for a few seconds their eyes link. Their gazes tangle for a few seconds before they both bashfully divert their shaking pupils. The student swears he can just feel little hearts floating above his head like a photo filter.

 

_D-did he look at me? Or was that me looking at him? What if he was looking at me?! No way! What does it mean? He probably just sees a loose twig in my hair or something and can’t bring himself to say something. Wait- what if there’s actually a twig in my hair?!_

 

“Alright, so, where do you wanna start?” Seongwoo asks with an amicable grin.

 

_Right. Studying. That’s what I’m here for. Education. “Education”._

 

“U-um, well. I guess we could start with, um, the first few slides from yesterday…” Daniel and Seongwoo proceed to spend the next couple of hours studying.

 

They get derailed fairly often. Daniel rambles about Peter and Rooney (making sure not to mention that they can talk). Seongwoo laughs along, he accidentally rips a page in his textbook, and as a result, he needs to scoot closer to Daniel to look off of his. Seongwoo rattles off pointers for differentiating between the subsets of data structures, and Daniel counts the birthmarks on his crush’s face and neck. He counts five before the TA brings him back down to Earth. It surprises the newly minted Wanna Knight how easily the conversation flows between them. Even though Daniel feels super nervous, Seongwoo has a way of drawing out genuinity in him.

 

On one of their tangents, Daniel learns that Seongwoo likes to read. He’s never had wine ( _how?!_ ) and he’s afraid of bugs, too. They both like spaghetti and the TA mentions he has a good tolerance for spicy food, too. Daniel already begins fantasizing about where their first date would be. He thinks about how he’d totally take Seongwoo to an Italian place where they could eat spaghetti and he could have the other try wine for the first time!

 

Time gets away from them, and suddenly their pleasant evening is interrupted by a library aid:

 

“Excuse me,” The skinny boy in a sweater approaches the two from behind. He has the adorable type of face that makes you want to pinch his cheeks. “We close at ten tonight. If you could start making your way out soon, it would be much appreciated.”

 

“O-oh,” Daniel mutters. He checks his phone to see the time: “9:47 PM”.

 

“No problem, Jinyoung. Thanks for letting us know,” Seongwoo gives the aid (who he apparently knows) a wave.

 

Pink blush tickles Daniel’s cheeks and ears. Suddenly the ease that he’d felt before vanishes. _Three hours?!_ He can’t believe himself. _We’ve been here for almost three hours?! I didn’t even notice._ His typical office sessions with Seongwoo were a tiny fraction of that. He got forty-five minutes alone with the guy, tops.

 

“I-I’m sorry. I had no idea I’d taken so much of your time!” Daniel stutters out. He starts frantically packing things.

 

Seongwoo shrugs nonchalantly, “It’s no problem. You had a lot of questions. I’m actually really glad I could help you out more.” Daniel swears that he could see the slightest tint of red on the other’s ears, but he decides it’s probably delusion or a trick of the light. Everything had been so strange; it wouldn’t surprise him to learn he’d started hallucinating on top of it.

 

“It was nice not having people give me dirty looks while they waited for their turn, hehe,” Daniel scratches the back of his head and chuckles.

 

“Maybe we can do it again sometime,” Seongwoo remarks offhandedly.

 

 _We can WHAT?!_ Daniel is afraid for a second that he’s been lit on fire, because he sure as heck feels like he is. A massive grin spreads across his face, and he’s certain that it looks incredibly stupid.

 

The TA continues,“For exams or something. I imagine you’ll want to review a lot of material then.”

 

 _Maybe…_ He tilts his head in thought as Seongwoo starts to ramble about upcoming material and study habits. _Maybe Jisung is right._

 

_N-no way. No way. It’s just a coincidence. He probably pities me and thinks I need a lot of extra help. He probably suspects I have some learning disability and considers this charity work._

 

Daniel follows Seongwoo out of the library, nodding and giving courteous “mhm”s when it seems appropriate. He feels guilty for not really listening, but the cogs in his brain are furiously spinning.

 

“I- I apologize, I’ve been rambling a bit,” Seongwoo says shyly when they exit the building. He pushes his specs up the bridge of his nose, and his pupils start dancing awkwardly.

 

“Wh- No, you’re fine,” Daniel waves the notion away, “I don’t mind one bit.” He gives the other a warm smile. The two linger there for a few moments, and the air grows increasingly awkward.

 

_Should I… Say goodbye? I should definitely say goodbye. Right? Right._

 

The student opens his mouth to say something, but it closes. He studies Seongwoo up and down, the object of his affection, the cutest boy in all of existence. The person whose presence manages to simultaneously put Daniel at ease while setting him on edge. Someone capable of lighting his heart up like a fireworks show with the simplest gestures.

  
Daniel thinks about what had happened just hours ago. He’d stood in that very courtyard, facing down the biggest, most terrifying thing he’d seen in his life. He got chased, attacked, and beat up, but in the end: he triumphed. He wasn’t afraid, and he thinks to himself:

 

_What am I so afraid of now?_

 

Seongwoo wasn’t gonna bite. He wasn’t gonna grow claws or scary, fleshy tentacles. The worst thing he could do is say no. Well, okay, obviously things could go slightly worse, but Daniel shakes those dramatic thoughts away. Suddenly, a surge of confidence overcomes Daniel, and he steps forward. His TA had been shuffling his weight from one foot to the other, perhaps he was trying to get the will to say goodbye, too. Daniel doesn’t know or care. He looks the TA in the eyes and speaks.

 

“Hey, Seongwoo,” He tries to keep his tone steady and secure. Part of him can’t believe what he’s actually about to do, but part of him feels incredibly relieved.

 

“Wh- Yes, Daniel?” The TA finally looks back up. His eyes widen slightly at the other’s close proximity, but he doesn’t draw back at all. He nibbles on his lower lip.

 

Daniel takes a deep breath before asking, “Would you wanna go out together again sometime?”

 

“W-well, like I said-”

 

“-Like a date.”

  
Seongwoo’s tight, uncomfortable expression falls into one of shock. His mouth drops open and his eyes widen. Red warmth flushes his face.

 

 _Oh no, what did I just do?!_ Daniel panics. _Oh no why the heck did I do that?! Daniel what is wrong with you!? OMG what if I just violated some kind of teacher-student relationship taboo. What if he thinks I just want special treatment? Oh no, I need to apologize right now!_ Just as Daniel readies an apology, Seongwoo responds.

 

“Y-you know…” Seongwoo looks away and starts wringing his hands together. He can scarcely keep his pupils in one place for more than a second.

 

_I’ve really done it now. Kang Daniel you idiot!!_

 

The TA awkwardly coughs, “This won’t get you preferential grading.”

 

Daniel feels his heart come crashing to the ground, shattering into a million pieces, “I… I know.” He gives a chuckle. He feels a cold chill come over him even though there’s no wind whatsoever. It makes him shiver. Seongwoo’s mouth flaps open and closed a few more times, and Daniel readies himself for the last stake to be driven into his heart. He physically braces himself for the harsh words that were no doubt soon to assail his ears.

 

“I… I…” Seongwoo stammers, and despite himself, Daniel can’t help but think how cute it is to see him so flustered. The TA finishes his sentence, “I-Is this really happening?”

 

“Eh?” Daniel is unable to stop the stupid utterance from leaving his mouth.

 

The TA finally musters the bravery to look his student face on, “It’s not nice to play pranks like this!” He crosses his arms indignantly.

 

Daniel snorts; he breaks out into loud laughter (which probably doesn’t help the situation much). He has to stop himself from doubling over, and his stomach starts hurting from how funny it is.

 

Seongwoo’s mouth dropped open, and his face darkened to an even brighter shade of red,“I- I thought so. Y-you can forget about anymore extra study ses-”

 

“Wait-” Daniel sticks his hand up, though his voice still shakes, “Wait, Seongwoo- no! It’s- you don’t get it.”

 

“What exactly am I not getting?” The teacher’s aid pouts, and Daniel needs to keep himself together, feeling dangerously close to melting on the spot.

 

“It’s funny that you’d think it’s a prank because- because-” He laughs again, “Because I’ve liked you so much for such a long time.” He gives the other an adoring smile.

 

“You what?” Seongwoo replies in disbelief.

 

Daniel grabs Seongwoo’s hands so he can’t escape and looks him straight in the eye, “Seongwoo, I like you! I like you a lot! It’s not something sudden, either. I’ve really liked you for a long time, but I could never get the courage to tell you until now! If… If that makes you uncomfortable, that’s okay. I understand, but I won't let you think I’m telling you this just as a prank.”

 

Seongwoo did nothing but blink for a few seconds before responding. Though the blush staining his cheeks stubbornly stayed there, his lips curved up into a tiny, shy smile.

 

“D-Daniel, I…” He swallows nervously, “I like you, too!” He confesses. Daniel thinks that he sees sparkles and flowers and floating hearts for a second. He considers that he’s probably been reading too many comics before bed.

 

_Wait?_

 

_Is this… Real?_

 

_Is any of this real right now?_

 

_Please, oh god- don’t tell me I’m gonna wake up now!_

 

Daniel stays quiet for a few seconds, waiting for the inevitable sound of the alarm, his mom’s shouting, his cats’ loud meowing.

 

Nothing.

 

It’s real.

 

It’s _real_.

 

“Let me take you out, then!” Daniel says. He tries to suppress his urge to bounce up and down, “I- I mean if you want to-”

 

“How does Saturday sound?” Seongwoo cuts him off. Daniel’s pretty sure he’s liable to explode at any second. Regardless, he keeps the fibers of his being in tact for the immediate few moments.

 

“Sounds good. I’ll text you.”

 

“Okay!” Seongwoo flashes him one of his absolutely knee buckling, super cute, irresistible grins. “It is getting late, though. We should probably start heading home.”

 

“You’re right,” Daniel says, though he still holds onto Seongwoo’s hands. The TA gives his hands a gentle squeeze before walking off.

 

“Bye!” Daniel calls after him, waving.

 

He starts walking in the opposite direction, checking behind him until Seongwoo’s completely out of sight. The second the TA disappears, he ducks behind a tree. He can’t really comprehend what or how he should cope, so he just jumps up and down with a crazed smile on his face. Still high and dizzy from the sheer bliss of having his feelings reciprocated, he whips out his phone and types frantically.

 

CatDanik1: HIGOWEHSOIGHEOIHGWEIHG

CatDanik1: IGHIEGFKLSJGFKLDSJFKSHGKLSHGIKLHS

CatDanik1: HJGIKHJFKSDJFKLSFLKSDHJFKLSDHGIA;HJIKOGDS;JIOEGRHJIOWIHJO

 

2ParkPink: oh no its happening

2ParkPink: his brain has finally combusted

2ParkPink: he has literally become too stupid to function

2ParkPink: press f for respects

 

Mom8sung: Oh my god.

Mom8sung: So, like, did your study date thing go well then?

Mom8sung: Is that what I am supposed to decipher from this message?

 

2ParkPink: ah yes that thing, i almost forgot

2ParkPink: is what i would say if daniel hadnt been freaking out about it

2ParkPink: for the past 24 hrs

 

CatDanik1: IOGHJEIOWGHJIOEDGJA;/SEKIGSD;JFIAOSKFESJKGH

CatDanik1: ioew hjgowei;hjgaiwjgiHIGAIGHEI

 

Mom8sung: Daniel, use your words.

 

CatDanik1: ghioejhgioew;j okay ok ok ok ok

CatDanik1: Well today has been totally crazy first of all

 

Mom8sung: Dude, no kidding.

 

2PinkPark: u rite

 

CatDanik1: But ok yeah I just hghgh I can’t even hold it in or lead into it i just

CatDanik1: I just

CatDanik1: I  
CatDanik1: He

CatDanik1: We

 

2PinkPark: OH MY GOD JUST OUT WITH IT ALREADY

 

CatDanik1: I asked him out and he said yes

 

2PinkPark: sounds fake but ok

 

Mom8sung: SHUT UP JIHOON OH MY GOD ARE YOU SERIOUS?!

 

CatDanik1: I DONT JOKE ABOUT SEONGWOO

 

Mom8sung: OH MY GOD I WANNA THROW A PARADE FOR YOU!

 

2PinkPark: dang daniel you really did the thing

2PinkPark: thats pretty ballsy for you

2PinkPark: respect

 

Mom8sung: I AM FREAKING OUT OH MY GOD! YES!!!

 

CatDanik1: IM A LITERAL MESS IDK WHAT TO DO RIGHT NOW AAAA

CatDanik1: ieojIGHEIOWHGIEWJHGIWEKJiogjIHGIWHEGIWH

 

2PinkPark: hahah

2PinkPark: proud of you man

2PinkPark: and happy for u ^^

 

CatDanik1: THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH I CANT

CatDanik1: Ok ok ok i think i need to like, just focus on

CatDanik1: Going home and planning this date.

 

Mom8sung: You realize we still have 2 more days in this week right?

Mom8sung: Like we’re still in school.

 

2PinkPark: dont listen to jisung sweep that man off his feet

  
CatDanik1: Hahaha, dw i’ll keep my head on

CatDanik1: For now

 

Daniel closes the chat app, plugging his headphones in so he could start his trip home with some good music. He feels bad getting home so late again, but he knows his mom will understand. He’s not super open with her when it came to his private life, but he feels super excited to tell her he’s got a date. It’s not lost on him how dorky that is, but he doesn’t care.

 

He walks toward the train station with a renewed spring in his step, and for awhile he forgets about everything else that had happened during the day.

 

* * *

 

“So how’d it go?” Rooney’s singsong voice came out from the small hutch on the cat tree in Daniel’s room.

 

The exhausted student plops down onto his bed. After coming down from the massive high of his confession to Seongwoo, he finds himself crashing. Hard. The day’s events had started to trickle into his mind once more, and by the time he’d gotten out of the shower, he felt exhausted.

 

Of course, that doesn’t do much to dampen his joy, “It went amazing!” The student beams to the calico. “I asked him out, and he said yes!”

 

“Whoa! Big guy on campus!” Rooney giggles, “Took you long enough.”

 

“Wh- hey! You’ve been able to talk for like- a day. How do you know how long I’ve been pining after him?”

 

“It’s pretty obvious,” The calico says.

 

Peter pops out from beneath Daniel’s bed unannounced, interrupting the conversation, “Hey, how are you feeling now?” She asks.

 

Daniel grins,“Well, I feel amazing-”

 

“Not about your date,” She groans.

 

Oh. Right. Talking cats. Wanna Knight. World saving.

 

“Oh. Oh…” Daniel nibbles his lower lip in thought.

 

_To be honest, I can’t say how I feel. Part of me feels fine, but I probably shouldn’t handle something so big so casually. I guess I don’t know how to feel._

 

“I guess I’m just confused,” He finally replies when he thinks about it. “Yeah, really confused. It’s a lot to take in for a single day.” He threw himself back onto his bed, tucking his arms beneath his head as he lay down. “Now that we’re not being chased by some giant monster, what’s all this Wanna Knight business about anyways? And- and who are you guys?” He purses his lips.

 

Peter hops onto the bed beside him, and Rooney joins. The ginger cat curls up into a small loaf next to him before speaking.

 

“It is a lot to take in… Where should we begin?”

 

“How about, what- what are those things? Those antis? And what the heck happened to everyone back there? Are they okay?!” He sits up on his elbows and stares his cats down.

 

Peter nods, “It makes sense that those would be your most pressing questions. Well, to begin with… I did explain a bit earlier, but I’ll tell you again. Antis are parasites from another realm. Think of it like… A parallel world, a different Earth- not necessarily a different planet.”

 

“Okay…”

 

“Antis are brainless parasites that feed off of the negative energy in a being’s soul. Those gross bugs you’re seeing? Those are like… Larval Antis. If they are able to feed on enough negative energy, however, they can consume their host and grow.”

 

“Like that professor… Was he consumed?”

 

The ginger cat nods, “Yes. Mind you- a single human is not able to provide enough negativity for such an occurrence. It is likely that anti fed on others before ultimately consuming its final host- that professor, that is.”

 

“So… What happened to him? And- and the students that he grabbed…”

 

“They were consumed as well. As I said, they are mindless parasites driven only by the urge to consume. Once they take a more threatening physical form, they function to serve their never ending hunger. They were sealed away once before, but now...”

 

“B-but, those people, you said they’d be okay!” Daniel’s jaw dropped.

 

“And they are, thanks to you,” Peter gave him a congratulatory pat on the leg, “You are a Wanna Knight- humanity’s line of defense against these awful creatures. I know what you did probably seemed violent, but you were helping that professor. In destroying the parasite, you purified the human’s body. When you use your Wanna Knight powers to destroy an Anti, the human is left dazed but unharmed. Any memories are merely thought of as a dream.”

 

“So… So he’s okay? And those consumed too?”

 

“That’s right,” Peter gave him a happy cat blink, “They all likely woke up somewhere in the vicinity feeling a bit woozy.”

 

“Oh… Well… That’s- that’s good. Right?”

 

“Better than the alternative,” Rooney pipes up.

 

“I guess,” Daniel gnaws on his lower lip. So many questions bubble up in his head, but he knows he can’t ask them all at once, so he tries to pick and choose. “So they just… Wanna destroy everything? That’s their purpose?”

 

“It’s not very noble, is it?” Peter chuckles, “But…”

 

“But what?” Daniel interrogates.

 

“Well, I suppose I ought to tell you a bit about us, too.” Peter turns to look at Rooney. “As I have said before, we are not your cats. Not exactly. We’ve merged consciousness with the creatures. We share memories and feelings…” (“And cravings for fresh fish!” Rooney adds whimsically.) “But, we are not of this world.”

 

“Right…” Daniel takes a few moments to process his thoughts, “So are you from… The same place the Antis are from?”

 

“Hm. Not quite? Well- We do come from the last world they inhabited. No… Ravaged. That’s more appropriate. They ravaged our world.”

 

“Oh,” The human frowns, “I’m sorry. So do you come from a land of… Cat people?”

 

“Not quite. I doubt I could describe our appearance in any way a human could understand, but… We were called wannables once upon a time,” The ginger kitty’s voice took on a wistful tone, “We had our differences, but we worked together. We lived in a good, peaceful world overall. At least, that was before the Antis attacked. They took everything, consumed until there was not even a speck of dust left.”

 

“How did you two survive? Wait- I’m sorry, that’s- that’s not appropriate of me to ask.”

 

“It’s natural you’ll be curious,” Peter reassures him, “We escaped through a small rift between our worlds before our planet was destroyed. I… I apologize. I fear this rift is what led the Antis here, to Earth. We weren’t planning on landing on this particular world, it- it just happened.”

 

“You don’t need to apologize, you couldn’t help it,” Daniel gave the cat a pet, “But… What about the Wanna Knights? You seem to know a lot about them, didn’t you have them, too?”

 

Peter’s ears flopped down, “We did, but… It wasn’t enough.”

 

“W-wasn’t enough,” Daniel felt panic spike in his chest, “B-but if you guys- who, like, knew all this stuff- if you couldn’t figure it out, how the heck am I supposed to do this alone?! I have college, dance, and a maybe-boyfriend now!” Peter and Rooney groan in response to the student’s skewed priorities.

 

Peter shakes her head and continues speaking, “Well, the truth is, you are not destined to do this alone.”

 

“Huh?”

 

Rooney nods, “That’s right. There are ten others out there like you. That…” She looks down, “That was our issue. We couldn’t gather all eleven of us in time to stop the Antis. But you!” She hops on top of the student’s chest, shoving her face in his, “You can do what we couldn’t! With our help, you’re gonna find the other Wanna Knights and seal those bad boys away for good!”

 

“N-no pressure, right?” Daniel chuckles nervously. He sighs, “How am I even supposed to start, though? What if there’s someone in Antarctica that’s a Wanna Knight?!”

 

Peter shakes her head, “That’s unlikely, unless they flew there this morning. There was only one rift between the worlds when we hopped, and it dumped us here. The Antis aren’t that powerful yet, and it’s likely the One Charms wouldn’t have gone far.”

 

“One Charms?”

 

“Like- your earring. There’s another ten of those with the same charm. Some look like pendants, rings, or earrings like yours. Find those, and you’ll find your fellow nights.” Daniel’s hand shoots to the dangling chain in his hear. He’d forgotten that it was there. When he touches it, it exudes a comforting warmth, like it belonged right where it was.

 

“So I have to look out for… Jewelry? Can’t this thing help me? H-how did you find your fellow Knights?!”

 

“Well,” Peter looks down dejectedly, “To be honest, _we_ were the ones who were found. There were ten of us by the time the Antis consumed our world. We just… We just needed one more.”

 

“Hey, it’s alright,” Rooney speaks softly to console the other, “Sorry we can’t help you more on that front right now. We’re cats, though. All we have is time, so… So maybe we can buck up and help him out, yeah?”

 

Peter nods to the other, “You’re right. We may not have any leads now, but we will do everything in our power to help you!”

 

“Aw, guys,” Daniel can’t help but squeeze the two close, littering the top of their fluffy little heads with kisses, “We’ll all do our best, okay?”

 

“Yeah!” Rooney says determinedly when she manages to break free of Daniel’s grip.

 

“You’re right. We’re not alone in this. Together, along with the other Wanna Knights, we’ll seal those Antis away for good,” Peter adds.

 

Daniel feels tired and confused and lost and overwhelmed and overjoyed. Emotions pile on top of him, yet he feels… Okay. Whether it’s his success with Ong, the fact that he knows he’s got friends to back him up, or some mystic influence of his One Charm: he feels strangely secure. He lays back down, eyes drawing shapes on the ceiling.

 

“I wonder what kind of people the other Wanna Knights are,” He muses sleepily, his eyes heavily drooping.

 

Peter nods, reflecting,“Surely the One Charms chose a variety of warriors that are strong, caring, and capable.”

 

Daniel’s phone buzzes and he gives it a last glance. It displays a new message from the groupchat app, and he opens it, figuring it’d be a round of good night messages. He snorts when instead he reads:

 

2PinkPark: guys i got my hand stuck in a pickle jar what do i do

**Author's Note:**

> // This work is a piece of fiction and is meant to be read as such. All of the people/brands mentioned in this piece belong to their rightful owners.


End file.
